Tobmaster's Short Story Portal
by Tobmaster
Summary: Throughout my writing of large stories I get an idea stuck in my head and just have to get it on paper. Instead of my profile being full of oneshots, I'll just have this. Any story I wrote that is under 20,000 words can be found here...
1. Table of Contents

**TOBMASTER'S SHORT STORY PORTAL!**

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Re organization time! I've moved all stories under 20,000 words in here, so if there was something you were sure I wrote and it isn't on the main stories page; look here. Newest entries at the bottom.

...LATER

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Table of Contents

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**Convergence**-

Tying a few of my stories together for fun - suggested to have read my first four stories -

Rating T

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**There and Back Again**-

Time travel story - except the Kyuubi messes up and brings him to the future instead -

Rating T for safety (could be lower)

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**The Gift That Keeps On Giving**-

Christmas story for all ages. Focused around a 'Secret Santa' set up, Hinata finds she has to get Naruto a gift worthy of her love for him and what better gift than a gift that keeps on giving. -

Rated K+ through M. There are places in the story where it could have been the end, but I upped the rating and kept going. First and largest part is suited for K+ I believe, there isn't much for language or suggestive themes there and it goes through the week leading up to Christmas (ending on Christmas Eve), the next is a shorter bit taking place on Christmas to just before Hinata's birthday touching on some more suggestive ideas making it T and the last part is the shortest and rated M for a good reason. Be sure to read it in anticipation of the changes.

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**Naruto's Impromptu Investigation**

A simple, murder mystery style story written in first person with a few twists and multiple endings.

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**Tale of the Forgetful Ninja**

Naruto forgot something important. Something so important that he never thought he'd forget until the big day arrived and he realized that he did forget. What did he forget?

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**When the Thunder Rolls**

A simple take on what could happen after the shinobi war arc...

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**NijuSen**

Completely out of the normal Narutoverse: A short story inspired by a story that stuck with me since I started reading fanfiction.

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**Good Morning Konoha**

Groundhog day like story, just without Bill Murray and Punxsutawney Phil

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(End)


	2. Convergence

For those checking because of an update notice, head over to the first chapter for an explination...Later

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Ok, here is a single story I created to get my creativity flowing again while writing Naruto's Vixen. I hope you enjoy it, and yes it will be kind of tacky and weird, but it was fun nonetheless.

As another note, you will probably want to have read all four of my stories for some of these things to make sense. This is not intended to be a serious work, more like a sketch to free up the cob webs in my head...

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Convergence

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"_**Kirikorosu Talking"**_

"**Kyuubi Talking"**

"_Tetsuda Talking"_

'_thoughts'_

(my comments)

* * *

In a room shrouded in darkness stood a tall massively built, bald, dark skinned man with special runes tattooed across his body for a reason unknown as of yet. He was currently staring outward into the void of the world he lived in imagining a fight like none has ever witnessed. This man was known through out his entire planet as the undisputed ruler and was seen as a god by everyone from coming out of fights with demons with barely a scratch. How he came to be so powerful, no one knows, but they do know that his is only looking for a fight to cure his hunger of battle. 

"Kokuou-sama, it final preparations have been taken care of. In only one hour the fighters that may give you the battle you deserve will be here. It has taken nearly everyone's power to execute it."

"Really? You have promised this before and it was just another one of those weak demons that barely could give me a work out. What makes you sure this is different?" asked the ruler

"It is different because in our previous attempts we were only summoning fighters from our dimension or alternate dimensions, but this time we have found something more of interest, we found alternate universes. I have created a way to bring the four strongest of the different universes here to battle, maybe this time you can find your peace."

"I hope you're right or I shall smite you where you stand… Naruto."

"Yes my lord." Bowing low, he quickly disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Sitting upon his well deserved seat, the Rokudaime Hokage was spending his morning with his beautiful wife when he suddenly got a weird feeling. 

"Hinata-chan, I feel something strange, almost like a pulling, for me to go somewhere important." The blonde man told his dark haired wife.

"Really? Do you know where Naruto-kun?"

"No, but I have a feeling it is somewhere that could affect a huge amount of people." He replied still in a thinking pose behind the standard Hokage paperwork.

"Is it safe?" she asked with concern.

"Not likely, when I get pulled there, I want you to stay here to take care of Awai-chan. If I don't come back she still needs a mother." Naruto stands up and throws on an overcoat as it immediately gets engulfed in flames revealing his signature coat with flames upon the hems and the symbol of a flame backed by a spiral nestled down into the fur of a Kitsune

"I understand Naruto-kun, are you sure you can't avoid the calling?"

"I'm sure. With the knowledge I have of dimensional travel, I believe this is similar to how we summon, but on a larger scale. I won't be able to resist it much longer."

"If that is how it is to be, please stay safe." She walked up to him and planted a firm moist kiss upon his lips pulling him into hers before breaking apart.

"You know I always am." Naruto was engulfed in a bright white flame leaving his wife standing in the Hokage's office, his office by herself.

* * *

"Tetsuda, Kirikorosu, do you feel that?" A blonde questioned inward. 

"_**Yes, it feels like a most powerful summoning, but I have no idea where it is coming from."**_

"_Could it be a new jutsu from an enemy?"_

"I don't think so; we really don't have many enemies this strong."

"**It isn't a summon from an enemy of this earth, but of another one. Someone capable of this type of power is almost beyond my own in my prime. I sense there is no way to stop it, so you need to be careful when you get to the destination."**

"I see, thank you guys." The built blonde opens his private safe and pulls out a shining black device before strapping it to his thigh. He then picks up and straps his zanbatou and katana to his back and made sure they were secured before he makes his way from his office in the Hokage tower back to his home at the Hyuuga manor.

"Hinata-chan?" he called out when two energetic 5 year olds ran to grab each of his legs. "Hi Kesshin, Yuki. Have you two seen mommy?"

"Yes, she's in her office." The two pearly eyed kids replied in unison.

"Ok, you two go back to playing now, I need to talk to her."

"Ok daddy." Replied the dark haired child as she grabbed the little blonde boy by the hand and took off into another room followed by a Hyuuga nanny. The man continued on his way to the familiar office and knocked before entering.

"What can I help you with Hokage-sama?" Replied the stunning woman with pearlescent eyes and a mischievous smile as she saw him enter.

"Come on Hinata-chan, I asked you not to call me that." He whined

"But you've looked forward to it for so long Naruto-kun."

"That is true, but I still don't want my wife to call me that in our home."

"Ok fine, but what did you really need? You usually don't come home so early in the morning." She asked fearing what it was.

"There is someone, or something, summoning me to their realm and it could be hostile, I won't be able to resist the pull for much longer."

"Will you come back?" she asked worriedly.

"I sure hope so, and no you can't come with, the kids need you here. Tell Kakashi to take over for a while."

"Sure, just come back to me Naruto-kun."

"I promise, if having to wander for 8 years to get back to didn't stop me, then how could this?" He gave her an assuring smile.

"Make it fast, and I'll have just my robe on waiting for you." She told him with a sexy look.

"Now that I will surely be coming back for." Naruto pulled her into a strong hug before deeply kissing her. "I will return my love."

"I know." Naruto was engulfed in a bright white flame leaving his wife alone in her office nestled beside their room at the Hyuuga manor.

* * *

It seemed like a normal day as the new Hokage was going about his daily routines wearing the usual white robes of his career when he suddenly felt really sick, but recognized the feeling. 

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong? You don't look very good." Asked a midnight blue haired woman holding a small child.

"There is a different dimension pulling at me like I'm being summoned." he told her.

"But didn't you say there is only one reality now?" She asked, confused.

"In this universe, there may still be alternate universes. If this is the case, I will need all the power of both Foxes to return, but I'd need a dimensional master to help, I'm only a minor one since I can't move to a different dimension like Gamabunta's for long."

"There's a difference in alternate universes and realities?" she still looked completely confused

"Yes, a different reality is one that is based off of a single person and their chosen path but something outside of the rules of the reality influences the timeline, where as alternate universes deal under the aspect of having a different universe for each possible choice and outcome in a person's life. There are infinite universes, but finite realities." Yeah, she was just as confused.

"I'll just say I understand, but you will come back this time and not leave me to think you died like my dreams of your past right? I don't want a Rantou showing up."

"Trust me angel, I've got enough abilities to come out of this even if I have to beat it out of someone."

"Good, I'll be waiting." She told him sexily making him grasp her and take control over her small lips before he was swallowed up in a bright white flame leaving his wife alone with his son, their son, still in her arms.

* * *

"Hinata-chan wake up." The blonde tugged on one of her lavender tails gently causing her to let out a gentle purr before yawning widely showing off her elongated fangs. 

"What did you want Naruto-kun, is Kyu-chan awake?" she asked a bit tired still.

"No she is still sleeping soundly. I wanted to tell you that I sense a disturbance calling for me." He told her sadly, not wanting to leave her

"What do you mean calling for you?"

"It feels like a summon, not like I've felt one before. Please take care of Kyu-chan, I'll be back as soon as I can my cute little vixen." He kissed her deeply while gently stroking one of her midnight blue tipped lavender ears.

"Please make it soon my handsome fox, you know I can't occupy my own desires, and the village needs their Hokage."

"I'll make that a promise!" he shouted with a wide grin showing off his own set of large fangs as he swished his nine charcoal colored tails. Naruto was then surrounded in a bright white flame leaving his hanyou wife in solitude on their bed.

* * *

A relatively tall scrawny blonde haired man dressed in tattered rags stood in the center of a large clearing outside of a dark, unknown city apparently waiting for something when simultaneously four flames of pure white shot up from the ground illuminating the area. Suddenly, as fast as it shot up, it died down revealing similar looking blondes all strangely looking at each other trying to figure out what was going on. 

"What the hell?" one of them wondered loudly.

"Ah greetings, um well, me." The one in tattered rags voiced. "I suppose you're wondering why you are here, well lets just say my version of Konoha sucks. The man I call Kokuou is the leader of our Akatsuki and he has managed to have all nine bijou sealed inside him, as such he has destroyed all strong enemies like Orochimaru and Itachi along with all the Kage. That is why I summoned you.

The remaining ninja of Konoha nearly died using all their chakra to bring you guys here because not only does Kokuou want a challenging fight, but we want to be freed from him, you are the strongest in different ways of all the universes we could find so here you are. Will you help us?" All four looked to the scrawny blonde strangely

"Did you really have to ask? But we need some thing to call ourselves since just using Naruto won't work with the five of us. In my world I made a sentient clone so I will just use that; call me Rantou." Informed the blonde in the kage robes. (Up From the Shadows)

"Sounds like a plan, call me Uzu. I used that to get under the radar to become Hokage in my world." Stated the gruff looking one with the twin swords. (Wanderer)

"Well I guess you can call me Kitsune, or fox, for obvious reasons." Mentioned the blonde with the tails. (Naruto's Vixen)

"I guess that leaves me, hmmm, how about… Oh I got it; I'll just use the name of the fox hunter I killed, Entai." (Walking the Line Between Life and Death)

"Alright, since this is my world, I'm still Naruto, so let's go to the resistance headquarters, there is much to talk about." Naruto led the way through the still of the night but the silence was to mush for all of them.

"So, what is Hinata up to in this world?" inquired Uzu.

"Why would you want to know about her? I thought you'd like to know how Sakura-chan is doing." The four built blondes all shared the same look of 'moron'.

"Oh, um, no reason at all; so how is she, Hinata I mean." Continued the sword wielding blonde

"I guess she's fine. I don't talk to her much especially with Kiba around, he has been chasing away any guy that come close to her, so I think they're going out, but Hinata never holds his hand or any thing, Kiba is the one that keeps trying to kiss her but she always gives him the cheek. It is quite funny to watch." He mentioned off handedly.

"You are clueless aren't you?" asked the hanyou.

"Huh?" he replied.

"Oh, nothing. So what is Sakura doing then?" dodged the kitsune

"Well glad you asked, she still hasn't gone out with me yet, but I'm getting much closer even if she keeps chasing Sasuke. I wonder when she will give up."

"Maybe it is you that should give up. Life is short, find someone cute that cares for you and you're sure to fall for her." Advised the blonde known as Entai.

"Hmm, I definitely would like to have someone to love, but who could I really find that give a damn about me?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I'm sure there's one around." Rantou assured with a smile matching the rest of the travelers.

A few moments later the five strolled into a familiar part of town, the clan sector, and were led straight through the gates of the Hyuuga Manor. Although it looked trashed from the outside, it was still perfect on the inside, most likely a genjutsu for camouflage. They walked through the halls, ignoring some of the rooms that appeared to have couples doing their intimate deeds for all to see until they couldn't take it any more.

"Hey Naruto, why are there couples having sex everywhere?" questioned Rantou

"Well, like you said, life is short and rooms are few so there tends to be a lot of that." He commented like it was nothing.

"Oh, have you ever participated in that?" Inquired the fox

"Nah, I haven't ever cared for someone to that degree, but rumors say Sakura has quite a few times; I just don't believe rumors." The four just shook their heads at his idiocy.

"Ok, what ever helps you sleep." Replied Uzu. Just then they passed a room where the lights were off but they could still see enough to know it was Kiba trying to get at Hinata again, which really pissed off four of them.

"Hey, does he always do that?" Entai asked with a bit of hate.

"Um, kind of, but usually he isn't that aggressive. If I really had the strength to stop it I would since I'm afraid that he might do something she doesn't want to happen."

"So you are weak?" Uzu wondered out loud.

"Well not exactly. I stopped gaining chakra when the Kyuubi was pulled from me and so I really only have the chakra of when I was a genin, so I'm nowhere near his level anymore."

"Hmm, well you just wait here, we'll straighten him out." The Kitsune declared with a grin

"What? Wait…" he noticed they were already gone as the lights flew on in the room revealing a very scared Hyuuga trying to guard her body from the feral looking ninja who was pissed.

"Hey jerk offs, this is private so get lost." Screamed the undomesticated man. (Ha, undomesticated)

"Well it seems the cute lady doesn't want your attention." This of course got a blush from the young woman.

"Oh she wants it, she is just shy. Not get out so I can continue showing her how to be a woman." (ever notice I don't like Kiba much?)

"Man what a screwed up world this is… Hey dog boy, if you touch her again we'll tear your arms off and shove them up your ass!" shouted Entai loudly.

"And what are you going to do about it blondie?" before he knew it there were two translucent red blades on each side of his neck, a huge zanbatou inches from his face and two Rasengan aimed for his heart and another massive double handed one towards an important part of his anatomy.

"Now be gone before you are gone from this world." Informed Uzu as he let just a bit of killing intent out nearly making him piss his pants before he was gone from the room and didn't stop running until he was out of eye sight.

"N-Naruto-kun?" the dark haired girl squeaked out while blushing and grasped will all her might to consciousness.

"In a matter of speaking, Hinata-chan, we need to talk." They all sat down near the blushing Hyuuga when she noticed the nearly identical symbols on the fox's shirt as well as the one on Entai's coat and had a wide smile on her face.

"You are from the other worlds, and is that really the Hyuuga flame on those symbols?" she asked without stuttering surprising them all.

"Yep, now the only thing you need to do is talk to your Naruto, I'm sure you will get along and get married like the four of us have with our respective Hinatas."

"Yeah but I think mine is cuter with her lavender ears and tails." Chimed in the Kisune.

"Hey don't say that, you know full well that she is cute the way she is, but mine has much larger breasts." Uzu informed them with a smirk.

"Yeah but she looks even better when she shows off the parts she doesn't have to shave." Stated Rantou. All three of them smiled at each other and nodded their heads while the girl was turning deep red and trying to hide in the corner.

"Can you stop, you're embarrassing me." She squeaked.

"Sorry, but you know full well that you'll show that part to your Naruto if he ever catches on." The fox mentioned as they all saw her smiling perversely before they stood up.

"Just be sure to tell him how you feel, he already has told us he would love to have someone that cares for him, and he hasn't been with anyone yet, so go get him." Entai suggested. The four left the girl and met back up with Naruto and continued on further into the manor.

"So what did you say to her?" Naruto asked.

"Not much, just a little confidence boost, she'll be fine in a while." Replied Uzu. Ending their conversation before the large doors were pushed open revealing a large group of familiar, but battle hardened ninja.

"You idiot, you brought four versions of yourself!? We all nearly died bringing a group of morons!" Shouted a pink haired girl readying a punch. The punch went to connect with his face but was halted quickly by a single hand.

"You are always too loud Sakura. It baffles me to no end why the hell I liked a harpy like you at one time." commented Uzu before throwing her fist to the side.

"Tsk, knock it off, this is getting too troublesome." Grumbled the lazy guy with an eye patch covering his left eye.

"As you can see we are mostly here except all our instructors, who were killed early, and Kiba and Hinata since they are taking care of things." Continued Shikamaru.

"Actually, I think Kiba is hiding somewhere since Hinata-chan clearly didn't want his attention." A large portion of the group had to smile hearing the suffix from the tailed blonde and knew why Kiba was hiding.

"Ok, now I would like to know your strengths and status in your corresponding villages along with what you are to be called." Commanded the lazy ass.

"Call me Entai, I have access to the memories of the Kyuubi allowing me to open dimensional portals where I have lived for a few years. I can also pull a different version of his chakra like the eight gates Lee uses, and I am Rokudaime Hokage and my best Jutsu is a wind elemental Rasengan and the Hiriashin." This surprised them since they actually found a Naruto that fulfilled his dream and had many nearly impossible jutsu.

"Just refer to me as Rantou. I too can open a dimensional portal, but clearly not to Entai's level. Also because of a dimensional shift, I contain two foxes within my modified seal, and I am Godaime Hokage (In that story, it ended with Yondaime still being alive, so Tsunade never became the Godaime) I also can do a wind Rasengan and Hirashin." This actually surprised nearly all of them since he too was Hokage, but one sooner.

"Well then, call me Uzu." The more rugged looking blonde removed his swords letting the weight of Kirikorosu dig itself into the wood floor. "I am a swordsman with two legendary swords that allow extra abilities as well as a side arm that can shoot a chakra projectile and I am Rokudaime Hokage. Like the other two I use a wind Rasengan and the Hiraishin" The members of the resistance were now early stunned having three kage in their presence and seeing there was still the tailed one remaining.

"Call me fox, tails, kitsune, I don't care. I can't use jutsu using hand signs, so I was forced into using my extra kitsune abilities to modify my Rasengan into a double handed Rasengan of wind, but I also can combine a wind Rasengan with kitsune-bi to make a twister of flames, although it is much stronger when done with my kitsune wife. I am a hanyou born from my Kyuubi sacrificing herself for my mate, and I am the new Kyuubi and also the Rokudaime Hokage." They were all shocked now since they truly found exceptional fighters within the blonde's counterparts.

"So then how should we proceed?" asked Naruto quite happy with the acquisition.

"I really don't know, this is unexpected." Replied Shikamaru being stumped for once.

"I've got one, where is the crystal of Tsunade's from this dimension?" Inquired the Kitsune.

"It was taken at the same time as that Kyuubi was and is now locked away in Kokuou's castle. Why does it matter?"

"Because it can absorb demonic chakra. We can't use it to destroy the bijou since three of us have demons, but it could significantly decrease his chakra making it much easier to take him out." This was a new concept for them all and they looked at the kitsune with interested eyes.

"So then fox, how do you know this?" inquired Ino, making her presence known.

"I know this because I have used it to destroy the bijou in my universe." He calmly stated.

"Ok, Naruto, do you have any idea where the necklace is located?" Entai asked showing his ability to start the planning.

"Uh, I can take you there, but I can't draw you a map or anything." He nervously stated

"Figures, you haven't had the teachings to do so, since you haven't found her yet." Commented Uzu.

"What do you mean?" he asked quickly.

"You haven't found your mate, easy as that." The hanyou informed.

"And who is she if you know so much."

"We're not telling, that is something you and her need to find yourself. Now Shikamaru, if you would please devise a good plan for the retrieval of the necklace. Once at that point we can take the fight to him." Suggested Rantou.

"Um, yeah, let's do that. Choji and Ino, I'll need some help, the rest of you can take some time off. I'll call you back when I have a good plan." Shikamaru walked into his planning room, followed by Choji and Ino, to figure out a flawless plan.

"Well Naruto, let's find Hinata, we need her help checking out your chakra system to se if we can fix your problem." Entai offered.

"Can't we use Neji, I mean he is right here." Naruto looked at the Hyuuga, but Neji caught the pointed glances from the other dimensional travelers and realized what was trying to be said.

"Nah, I have places to be. She will be able to help you sooner." With that Neji disappeared.

"So let's find Hinata then, I think she should be in her room." Naruto went to lead the way, but found half of them were already going in the correct direction with the other two following closely behind and had to hurry to catch up to them. Moments later they arrived at the door and gave it a firm knock.

"Who is it?" Called the sweet voice from behind the door.

"Uh, I guess Naruto will sum it up." Uzu stated while looking at the others. They heard a quiet gasp and some shuffling around before the door opened revealing a blushing girl with dripping wet hair hanging on her shoulders She was wearing a simple white T-shirt and black shorts, but failed to notice that her hair was soaking her shirt allowing a decent view of her developed chest. Naruto stared at her wet t-shirt with his eyes almost popping out of his head before he took one out of Hinata's book and fainted with a deep blush.

"Why d-did he d-do that?" Hinata wondered while looking at his sleeping form.

"Well, I believe it is because your shirt is wet." The fox commented with a smile. Hinata looked down and shrieked before she blushed and fainted.

"Hmm, you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Entai, clearly in a pranking mood.

"Why yes, I do believe I am." Replied Rantou. With a mischievous smiles on their faces, the two picked up Naruto and placed him on Hinata's bed before picking up Hinata and placing her face first on top of his chest. Immediately after letting go, Hinata wrapped her arms tightly around him and snuggled in deeper causing Naruto's arms to hold her as well.

"Hey, I guess we do look cute." Commented Entai with a smile looking at them lying there.

"Yeah, but I couldn't see it first hand myself. Let's sit down and wait for them to wake up, this is going to be good." Snickered the kitsune as they found a couple chairs and sat down.

* * *

They all exchanged stories and information on their lives filling in the gaps of their heritage since the fox never learned of it. They even went as far as to compare sex lives. Basically what they found out is that no matter which universe they are from, Hinata and Naruto were meant to be together and have lots of fun as well. 

Soon after they noticed Hinata was stirring and slowly opened her eyes. She only smiled at the blonde under her before lying back down holding him tighter causing the four travelers to smile as well. Just then Naruto woke and just gazed at the source of the warm feeling he was having.

"H-Hinata?" he voiced in a whisper. She just perked up and looked into his eyes.

"Morning love." Was all she said before pressing her lips to his while letting out a content sound as she continued working his lips. Naruto had no idea what was going on, but just liked everything and let himself drift into that moment kissing her back. She finally broke the kiss gasping for air with a ecstatic grin on her face.

"I love you Naruto-kun." She told him like it was a phrase she used everyday.

"You know, my Hinata had a tendency to think I was a dream also, and it went about the same." Observed the kitsune, breaking the atmosphere in the room.

"Oh god… this is real?" squeaked Hinata as she tried to burry her face into the chest of Naruto.

"Uh, yeah, but I think I could get used to this." Commented Naruto with a bright smile. Only half a second later the other four busted out laughing.

"Hey why are you laughing?" angrily asked Naruto holding Hinata protectively.

"Because I think we all looked that stupid when we found out our feelings for her." Rantou mentioned still laughing.

"Alright now you two, we need to find out why Naruto isn't producing more chakra." Reminded Uzu after catching his breath from laughing so hard.

"But I want to stay right here." Came a muffled whine from the little Hyuuga still hiding in clothing of Naruto.

"You two will have the rest of your life together once we take out the bastard, now Hinata, we need you to use the Byakugan on him to see if there is something weird in his chakra system." Reluctantly Hinata followed what Entai wanted her to do and got off of Naruto, blushing red every second of the action, before activating her dojutsu and peered into the network of chakra.

"I see… chakra, tons of it. There is so much in there that I can't even find most of the pathways since it is so saturated. It is amazing…" recited Hinata in awe of what she was seeing.

"If I have so much chakra, then why can't I use any of it?" Naruto asked the group.

"Best guess, it is stuck in the seal from the Kyuubi. It is possible that the seal remained after removing the Kyuubi from you and as such it has been locking away your chakra like it would his." Came the hypothesis of Entai since he had the best knowledge of the chakra system, and knowledge in general.

"So, how can I use it?" retorted Naruto.

"Uh, don't know. It has to be unlocked by you." At that moment a messenger stopped by telling them Shikamaru has a plan. Deciding that they couldn't do anymore anyways, they took off for the meeting.

* * *

"Ok, here is the plan." Started Shikamaru. "The five Narutos will set out to sneak into the fortress to locate the necklace with a Hyuuga for the ability of seeing through walls. While they are doing that, we will take the time to reveal ourselves as the resistance and incite a rebellion drawing his attention away to aid in the procurement of the crystal. Once the crystal is found, that group will seek out the leader and do all that is necessary to end his life. Any questions?" 

"Um, can we take Hinata?" Naruto asked while slightly blushing.

"She is a Hyuuga, so why not?" he replied. "Now then we will execute this plan, uh, how about immediately? It's not like we have mornings anymore. I don't even know if our time is actually the real time, so let's just move out." Taking that as the end of the meeting, everyone disappeared to prepare for the operation.

* * *

Only a few minutes later the groups were embarking on their quest. With Naruto in the lead, and Hinata clinging to his arm, the group of six made their way to the back entrance of the fortress. 

"Now all we do is wait for the attack to begin, and then we can enter. Hinata-chan, check out the patrols inside and tell us when they are gone when it begins." Ordered Uzu, showing his prowess in tactics. After a few moments of waiting, the attack began and the alert signal was heard. Hinata immediately activated her bloodline ability and watched as the guards scattered and ran in the direction of the battle.

"It is clear." She told them. With ease the group made it in the entrance where Naruto took the lead with Hinata still scouting for guards from his side.

"Faster, it is this way." He whispered as the group sped around corners and down darkened halls until they came to a large vault.

"Ok, it should be in there, Hinata-chan?" she used her ability to try to look into the vault, but found it to be too thick.

"I can't see through the door. How should we try to get in? It is too thick for an attack to penetrate without making too much noise." She told them.

"Well now, when have you ever known us to avoid noise?" asked the smiling kitsune as he stepped forward with both arms outstretched. Suddenly the air became heavy as chakra poured out of the hanyou's body into his hands starting to form his signature maneuver. Even the other Narutos were amazed at the single attack as spikes of wind enhanced chakra were seen making the revolving spiky ball.

"Fuuton: Koudai Rasengan!" the fox pulled back his hands before hurling the ball at the door of the vault. The moment it struck the structure it came to a complete halt. Cracks started to form on the structure under the sheer force of the attack until it started to give way.

"Shit, it is destabilizing! It's going to explode!" shouted the Kitsune. Hearing the warning Uzu whipped out Tetsuda, his katana and channeled chakra into the blade.

"Tetsuda! Great Barrier!" thrusting the blade into the ground a shield of blue surrounded the group as the Rasengan exploded shredding everything within 50 feet of where they were standing.

"You fool! You could have killed us, that was completely stupid!" shouted Rantou as he surveyed the area.

"Yeah, like you wouldn't have done something that careless yourself." The hanyou replied.

"Uh, hey look the crystal." Rantou pointed out to redirect the conversation. The group took off for the crystal, after Uzu released the barrier and secured his blade. Upon retrieving it, Naruto placed it in his pocket and turned to meet the thundering of footsteps running to intercept them.

"There are about 50 guards coming!" Hinata alerted.

"Well crap, I guess we do this the hard way." Uzu pulled out his Zanbatou while Rantou split his hilt and channeled the demon's chakra to for the red twin blades. Naruto unsheathed his own katana just as the fox smiled wide as his claws elongated and Entai just looked on and pulled out a kunai.

"Uh, what? I use jutsu." He defended when they all looked at him seeing that he didn't have a blade of sorts.

"Here." Uzu threw him Tetsuda. "I hope you can wield a sword." Entai smiled wide just as the guards came into view. Suddenly the five seemingly disappeared until sounds of cutting and dying were heard before it went silent again revealing all of the blondes completely unscathed.

"Hmm, that was fast." Entai commented as he returned the sword to Uzu.

"Yeah, but lets not waste time, our friends could be dying." Naruto reminded as he grabbed Hinata's hand pulling her, the rest following, to where the leader was sure to be.

* * *

"Stupid insignificant idiots! Do they not realize it is futile? Now where is that little blonde shit?" Angrily fumed Kokuou as he watched his army slowly fall to the resistance. 

"I'm right here my lord." Naruto announced with a smile, still holding Hinata's hand.

"What is the meaning of this you whelp? You do not bring that Hyuuga bitch in here." Her shouted before disappearing and reappeared in mid strike sending Hinata flying to the side from the powerful blow. Hinata could barely sit up as she looked into Naruto's blue eyes with the look of fear in shame while blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. Naruto's face steeled as he turned back to the leader before pulling out the necklace and placing it on his neck.

"Your tyranny ends here Kokuou." Naruto channeled chakra preparing for a jutsu when he noticed none was flowing. Suddenly the crystal glowed a brilliant white as Naruto hunched over in pain causing Kokuou to stare at him with a hint of fear.

"So, you have found the crystal, but I would like to know how you retrieved it from the vault." He asked. At this time four blondes filtered into the room each with the same dominant smile on their faces.

"You see Kokuou-teme, not only did I bring you the strongest fighters of an alternate universe, but I managed to find four Kages, and each one of them has the strength of a demon still sealed in them and they just so happen to be, well, me." Naruto finally came to his feet and felt chakra surge through his body. Channeling a bit to his muscles to increase speed, he was surprised when his muscled fed off of the energy and increased in size until he was on par with the build of the other four.

"Well, now that he has unlocked his power, it is time to get started." Uzu pulled out Tetsuda and flung it at Hinata's feet. "Tetsuda, great barrier!" He smiled to the young woman as the shield surrounded her to protect from the incoming attacks. He then pulled out his massive sword.

"Kirikorosu: Stage two!" Uzu's blade transformed into the pitch black blade with the guard forming around his hand. Uzu retracted the short blade back into the hilt and stood at the ready with red chakra dancing around his body.

"Hmm, my turn." Rantou pulled his twin blades and matched the look of Uzu with his slited eyes and dark birth marks.

"Cant forget me." Mentioned the kitsune as he looked the same as usual, but deep blue chakra danced on his body with the occasional wisps of jet black.

"And lastly, it is my turn… Demonic Seal: Release!" A sudden surge of chakra burst from his body leaving bolts of blue and red lighting sparking across his body. All five seriously powered beings readied themselves for the attack on the ruler Kokuou.

"Granted you are all strong, but I am stronger yet. Graviton wave!" A dark wave of energy swept across the room pushing the five blondes into the wall and holding them with extreme amounts of gravity.

"No matter their strength, no one can defy gravity. That is how I defeated all my opponents. I never used the bijou to increase my chakra; I just used them to unlock the most powerful element, gravity. It really is too bad you all can't escape, all I have to do is throw a kunai at each of you and all will be over." He pulled out a kunai and went to throw it, but felt the weight was off and decided to inspect it, what he found was a tri-pronged kunai instead of his usual.

When he looked up, he saw three smiling blondes struggle to bring up their hand before flipping him the bird and disappearing in a brilliant flash of light and delivering three punches to the man right as they reappeared. After the hit, his concentration faltered dropping the other two from the gravity technique.

"Well that was smart to sneak that kunai in, which did the trick. Now let's say we end this quickly?" Smirked Uzu bringing his sword to bear. The other Narutos gathered around and watched Kokuou attempt to stand.

"Now!"

"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken." "Fuuton:Koudai Rasengan" "Tempest: Ultimate Retribution" "Kirikorosu: Rapid Slash!" "RASENGAN!!" Kokuou finally got to his feet just as all five attacks made their make slashing, cutting, slicing, and all around mutilating the tattoo covered man. The fortress was now barely standing after all the massive attacks were thrown.

"You are free now Naruto, now what will you do?" Asked Entai, after shutting down his chakra output.

"There is something that must be done." Naruto walked out to the window of the fortress and pushed chakra towards the necklace. A bright blue string of light flew into the sky piercing the darkness sending a wave of energy across the sky taking the void with it revealing a calming sunrise.

"Now I'm done, I thought that if the necklace can absorb demonic chakra, then it might be able to amplify human chakra. I guess I was right." Suddenly he found himself with a dark haired woman in his arms holding him tightly. "Hi there Hinata-chan, would you like to got out on a date with me?" She just looked at him with a smile before kissing him deeply surprising him greatly.

"Of course I will you idiot." She mumbled as she still held him.

"Uh, I'd hate to break this up, but I would like to return to my wife. I'm sure my Hinata would like to see me again." Rantou stated

"Wait, she is the one I needed to find?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Of course, Hinata-chan has a knack for getting our worthless minds to work properly, and she is an awesome wife." Uzu informed

"Yeah, but like he said, how do we get home?" reiterated the Kitsune.

"Um, I don't know…" Naruto's answer nearly gave them all a heart attack.

"You mean you brought us here with no way to return us?" Uzu yelled.

"Well, you know me…" he replied with a sheepish face.

"Idiot… I can travel dimensions, but I just need a marker to follow, so I suppose if you were to force your chakra into me I can open a door to your universe. You will need to provide your own chakra since I need mine to return to my world, and we all have to travel together just in case it fails." Enlightened Entai.

"Yeah fine, lets go." The all said goodbye to this look alike and his new girlfriend before Rantou stepped forward and placed his hands on the shoulders of Entai pushing huge amounts of chakra through him.

"Dimensional Portal: Return!" A large doorway of light formed and quickly they all leapt through leaving Naruto and Hinata alone in the fortress.

"Well, I guess that is over, what would you like to do now Hinata-chan?"

"I can think of many things I would like to do to you Naruto-kun." She told him with an alluring smile, apparently the other four rubbed off on her quickly.

* * *

Hinata sat sleeplessly on her bed in the Hyuuga manor when a brilliant light appeared and left as quick as it came leaving four blondes standing in the room. 

"Hmm, is this correct?" Uzu asked as he looked around until meeting the gaze of the wide eyed Hyuuga before them.

"What's going on?" she cried out seeing what looked like different versions of her husband.

"Well, I guess she looks different but yet just as cute as ours. Later Rantou, uh well Naruto." With a final wave, the fox stepped forward and used his chakra to propel the group through the next door leaving this Naruto with his wife.

"Long story Hinata-chan, but I'm feeling too tired to explain right now."

"Oh I bet I can guess, but I'd rather see just how tired you are." She looked at him longingly as she dove on top of him burying him in a kiss.

* * *

The sudden flash woke up a cute looking woman with her ears twitching from being woken from her sleep on the couch. 

"Ah, good morning my gorgeous vixen." Greeted the kitune as he grabbed his tailed wife in a tight hug.

"Um hi, Naruto-kun, whay are there others like you?"

"Well it was something about alternate universes or something." He replied.

"I can say one thing Naruto, your Hinata does look cute with tails, but I want to return to mine, the twins are hard to control without me there." With a wave Uzu grabbed a hold of Entai before leaving through the bright door way leaving the hanyou couple together.

"Um, now that you're back and Kyu-chan is, um, sleeping…" She left that in the air as a grin formed of Naruto's face before playfully pouncing on his wife.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, please return soon…" Hinata's wish was son answered as two blondes emerged from a bright light. 

"Last stop, bargain basement." Joked Entai.

"Yeah real funny. Now get going before your Hinata gets too upset, I know how she gets when she doesn't have her Naruto-kun." Teased Uzu, the sword bearing Naruto.

"Fine, but be sure to take care of yours." With that the Naruto known as Entai disappeared into the dimensional door way.

"Who was that Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"That was one of four other Narutos from different dimensions. We saved a world from the tyranny of the Akatsuki leader and restored their native Naruto to a competent ninja as well as set him up with his Hinata, and I believe they hit is off quite well." He replied.

"That is strange, but I'm glad you are back safe. Oh and I'm wearing my robe…" Naruto looked at his wife before grabbing the ties releasing her robe to the floor.

"Now you aren't" he smirked before kissing his naked wife.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata the moment she saw the familiar bright door way come into existence in their room. 

"Hey Hinata-chan, I have to tell you I had the weirdest day. I met four different Narutos and their respective Hinatas when we all were summoned. It was really strange, one pair even had tails from merging with the Kyuubi, but of them all, I still think I got the best."

"Naruto-kun, you know flattery gets you everywhere with me." She told him before grabbing his hand and pulling him on top of her.

* * *

Well that is all from the shared experiences of the dimensional travelers. The Naruto that summoned the others has a long road ahead of him while he tries to rebuild his Konoha and as he dates his cute Hyuuga, but if the other four are of any evidence, he will soon be Hokage and happily married.

* * *

(ending notes) 

Well that is all from me for a while. There were probably many mistakes in this little story, but it wasn't intended to be a serious work. Well until about fall or so...Later


	3. There and Back Again

A quick time travel story. I woke up one morning with this on my mind and an idea like that can't go unused! Remember it didn't do through my usual editing like my real stories, read it and enjoy!

* * *

There and Back Again

* * *

The evil blackness cast over the ninja nations was waning, but the damage has already been dealt. Naruto wearily stood with tears in his eyes as he surveyed the scene before him. His eyes were cold and emotionless, even the most novice ninja could sense the look of giving up, but somehow he survived, despite it. The blonde was on the verge of being fully unclothed from the gashes and scrapes that shredded his orange and black clothing, that looked more red than orange at the present. His stomach hurt to the point of wanting to hurl from what he saw before him. Almost everyone he cared about, was lying there, dead. Naruto's seemingly lifeless body stepped over the corpses of the ninja from his home, but it will never be home again without his friends and surrogate family.

* * *

The last battle was expected to be fierce between Konohagakure and Otogakure, but what they never expected was the arrival of Akatsuki as well. Sasuke, traitor of Konoha, seemingly inherited the drive for immortality from Orochimaru when they sort of combined a few long months ago, leading to the all out war; at least now it was over, but at what price. 

Sasuke/Orochimaru knew the workings of Konoha ninja too well and set up the perfect strategy to counter them. In the first moments of the battle the entire Oto force was brought upon the medics, ignoring everyone else in the process. Sure that wasn't the best approach for keeping the casualties down on their side, but it was acceptable in knowing that once a ninja went down, they would stay down without the medic's help.

Of course with Sakura's might, she was no push over, but her life was ended quickly from her one weakness, Sasuke. Sakura was crushing bones left and right as the ninja kept coming, but for some stupid reason, she flinched when she saw him, which allowed enough time for a Chidori to pass through her heart, leaving her physical heart in the same condition as her emotional one; obliterated by the Uchiha.

After the medics went down, it was only a matter of time before Konoha fell, especially when the next targets were the strategists. Without them, there would just be an unorganized army, and chaos is easy to defeat. The Oto nin could all but smell the victory as Shikamaru went down, knowing he was one of the best in that area. Unfortunately the tides turned once again in no one's favor when all the deaths took their tolls on a certain person, Naruto.

The usually hyper blonde watched from every facet of the battle through the eyes of his dispelled clones. It is bad enough to see one friend die, but to see death fall on countless comrades; it was enough to break anyone, especially when Akatsuki interfered with his mind from a distance, making each death replay over and over from many different perspectives in his already weakened mind. Konoha may have still managed a win in the long run, but after Naruto lost it, there was no one safe from harm.

Loosing control of the four tailed form was enough to send Orochimaru running many months before, so when the seventh tail came, Naruto was all but completely possessed by the demon. If there was even one person that showed the smallest bit of hatred towards him in all the years, it would be enough of a reason to strike them down in its opinion. The mini Kyuubi decimated the scared and running ninja from both camps and even the remaining Akatsuki wished they never pushed the Kyuubi to the surface as they were among those that were destroyed, except the leader, who was safe by the use of his cloning technique.

Like before, Sasuke attempted to subdue the beast, but instead of the previous meeting in Naruto's mindscape, he found himself within the cage of the demon, where he died an excruciatingly painful, and slow, death at the hand of the grinning beast as he devoured the last Uchiha's soul.

* * *

Naruto continued his trek over the corpses with more tears falling for each of his friends that he saw lifeless on the ground. Lee, Neji, and even Gai and Kakashi were all there with kunai and claw marks all over what was left of them. He couldn't take it anymore, all the death and destruction caused all due to him, well not all, but it still felt that way. 

"WHY?!?!?!?!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell to his knees in the middle of the carnage. Knowing going home would never be 'home,' Naruto decided for the best approach to deal with the giddy demon within. Picking up a sword from the ground, Naruto raised the blade directly above his heart and started to thrust it inward when he found himself standing before his demon still in the cage where it should be.

"What do you want you murdering bastard!" Naruto shouted at the chuckling beast.

"**I got exactly what I wanted, to see all those flesh bags die at our hands, but I think I had a slight oversight in the midst of my enjoyment. Even though you have imagined what it would be like to hurt your friends, before they were friends, maybe I shouldn't have killed them after seeing how you reacted to their death. Remember, I die with you."**

"Like I care if you or I live or die anymore! Everyone is dead! What type of life will I have with only Tsunade, Ero-Sennin and the Konohamaru corps? They will probably all hate me for you taking over, that is of course if I even make it through the village gates knowing the villagers would use any excuse to execute me."

"**I really hate you. You and your stupid morals and wanting to protect everyone."** The Kyuubi let out a huge sigh at what he was about to offer. **"What would you say if I were to tell you that we could travel back in time and redo it all?"**

"Huh? You, we, can do that?" Naruto asked incrediously

"**Of course, anything above seven tails can, but it nearly destroys us in the process. We will go back, and I will not take over and kill those you wish to protect, I will just enjoy the kill we make against our enemies. There is a possibility of having too much of a good thing."**

"What ever you bastard, now how do we do this?"

"**You just sit back and enjoy the ride. When I travel through time, you will follow with me due to the blasted cage, but I have no idea if I will survive the trip. Although it is a better gamble than to let you continue to run yourself through with that sword."**

"Fine, let's do this."

"**One more thing… You won't have access to my power for quite some time after it is done."**

"I don't have a problem with that." Naruto commented as he was thrown out of the mindscape and closed his eyes waiting for what the demon had planned.

* * *

Tsunade and Jiraiya were dashing through the forest in the direction of the battle. They would have been on the front lines with the rest of the ninja if only the ancient members of the council wouldn't have made them, by a direct order from them and the Daimyo himself. Unfortunately they wish they disobeyed them sooner when they felt the Kyuubi chakra spike to massive levels in the battle which brought them running to the scene. 

"What do you think happened Jiraiya?" Tsunade demanded as she sped up the pace even more making her green jacket ruffle in the increased wind velocity.

"No idea, but with that amount of chakra, it couldn't have been good." Suddenly another spike of chakra in greater magnitude than the first blasted through the area causing the two sannin to go beyond their limits and run even faster, fearing the worst. They finally arrived on a field that could be mistaken for the very depths of hell with blood body parts and many corpses littering the open grounds. Naruto stood in the middle of the blood drenched field with a waterfall of red chakra rolling off of his body causing steam to rise off the ground from the intensity, until just one sudden instant, and he was completely gone, not a flash of light or smoke, just gone.

"What the hell was that Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked the white haired man, who was so distracted by the disappearance that he couldn't even sneak a glance at the Godaime's large chest like he always has, even in the thick of battle.

"No idea; that is something that can't be done. You can't just disappear like that. It was like he just vanished from the face of the earth." The two sannin surveyed the carnage cautiously hoping to find at least one survivor, but the bodies weren't left in a manner that it would have mattered; most were shredded by massive claws and the pieces were all strewn together.

"Did Naruto do all this? Even to his own people?" The aging woman asked with a bit of regret that she held for her brother like shinobi.

"If he did, it was because of the Kyuubi, besides, each one of these people weren't innocent from hurting him at one time, so it is possible that if the battle caused him to snap and release the demon that it would take out its rage on anyone, friend or foe." Jiraiya replied as he took a moment to gather himself before continuing the search for survivors among the red wasteland. Suddenly, through the silence, Tsunade heard something with her medically tuned senses; a heart beat.

"Jiraiya, there is one survivor." The two quickly ran in the direction indicated and unburied a single person from under the corpses, what they saw was an unconscious person that was seemingly unscathed. "How? There isn't even a single scratch anywhere. I've seen people with worse injuries from swimming, yet this one has been through the very gates of hell, with nothing."

"Well," Jiraiya started while thinking. "This one may have been the only one capable of being innocent from hurting Naruto at any point in his unfriendly past. If he realized that subconsciously, it may have been enough to spare just this one."

"I see; it is too bad he didn't realize it a long time ago, things may have been different. Let's get our survivor back to Konoha, it may not be ideal, but it is a start. I just wish I knew where Naruto went."

"Personally I wouldn't worry about it. If I know him, there won't be anything to find. He couldn't live with all this blood on his hands." Jiraiya admitted with sadness

"So you think he'll…"

"Most likely he already has, that is why we can't sense him."

"I see. Jiraiya, this will be a graveyard, the entire field. Take care of it, there are no more survivors." Tsunade picked up the one survivor that was blood stained from the other corpses and bolted away towards Konoha. With a sad sigh, Jiraiya ran through a few hand signs before the earth swallowed the carnage, leaving only a small hill of dirt where the battle took place.

"Rest in peace, all of you. I'm sorry Naruto, Kushina, Minato, I have failed you in everything." Jiraiya shamefully walked away before turning back and hurled a huge rock onto the small hill. With an easy jutsu the rock was carved up into a large memorial stone before the man left for Konoha.

* * *

Just like he left, Naruto blinked into existence in the middle of a large grassy field with huge leafing trees surrounding the area. Birds were chirping happily and squirrels were chasing each other around, but what caught his attention was a giant stone stuck in the middle of the field surrounded by delicate flowers planted there and were obviously meticulously cared for. 

"Well, this is weird. Where am I?" Naruto asked out loud.

"**Ah Shit!"** came the deep gravelly voice before Naruto sensed the demon fall into a deep slumber.

"What do you mean shit?!" Naruto shouted. He got nothing in return and decided to take a closer look at the stone and read the carving left behind.

'_The site of the last battle of the Konoha-Oto war, many ninja died and were buried here from both sides, all are heroes for their courage and loyalty to their countries. There was no winner to this gruesome battle, only death. May they all have the respect they deserved in life in their time after death. May their spirits rest peacefully in an unmerciful world. You will all be missed…_

"Huh? There was another Konoha-Oto war? Hmm, that is funny. I don't remember there being one, even if I wasn't paying attention in class. Oh well, I guess it is time to find Konoha and start in on fixing this." Naruto started walking in the direction he just imagined Konoha to be in but then looked down at his shredded clothing. "Well, maybe I need to find something a bit more down the lines of 'decent' before running through town." Looking over the area, he happened upon an old over coat that seemed strange that it was left there, but shrugging it off, he covered himself with it and headed on his way through the trees quickly.

Within half an hour, Naruto landed in front of a huge sprawling city that looked nothing like Konoha, yet there was still a sign that welcomed everyone to the city. He stood staring at the entire area, noticing that there wasn't a gate, or even walls left. Almost like some of the other smaller villages he visited while traveling with the perverted sannin. Naruto was quickly drawn out of his staring when a large motorized vehicle barreled making a horrible noise.

"Get out of the road you bum!" Shouted a person riding in the vehicle.

"Woah, shit! A cart without a horse! It moves like that train in snow country, but there aren't tracks either…. Cool." Naruto quickly looked around and saw people walking on a small area next to the road and decided it was safer to travel where the other people were walking. He continued journeying deeper into the strange city as he saw more motorized vehicles pass him by on the road.

"This is so not Konoha." He muttered as he continued looking up at the tall buildings which surrounded him. Seeing a decent looking old man, of about 50 years old, at a stand selling fresh fruit, Naruto decided it would be a good idea to figure out his whereabouts and a course of action to get back to his village.

"Hey old man, exactly what city am I in, I wasn't paying attention to where I was traveling?" the guy looked him over and smiled.

"Where are your parents young man, you shouldn't be traveling at such a young age." He replied kindly.

"Um, my parents died when I was born, so where am I?"

"Oh, sorry. Well, you are in the capitol of the Fire Nation, the city of Konoha."

"Huh? I'm supposed to believe I'm in Konoha?"

"What you don't believe me young man, just look to the other side of that tall building and you'll see the famous carvings of the founders and protectors of this great city, the last generations of the great ninja." Naruto followed the direction pointed and saw the mountain in all its glory with all five Hokage's faces like it should have been.

"So does she still live around here?" Naruto asked as he pointed to Tsunade's form, earning a loud chuckle from the man.

"Heavens no, she died long ago, but at least I can say that my father and mother knew her well."

"Wait, the old lady is dead? But that isn't right, what the hell is going on? Who the hell are you?!" Naruto demanded as he grabbed the collar of the man's shirt.

"Easy kid, I don't want to hurt you, so you can let go of me."

"I will when you tell me who you are!"

"Fine, I'm Sarutobi Shika." The old man told him, earning a dumbfounded look from the blonde as he let go of his shirt.

"But there was only the old man, Asuma-sensei and Konohamaru left." The man looked at Naruto with surprise written all over his face.

"Asuma was my father, he died in battle against a fierce opponent. How did you hear of him, that was before I was born."

"Huh, you what! This can't be, I'm not supposed to be here! Where is everyone! If you were Asuma's kid, then, Kurenai-sensei was… no it can't be!"

"Kid, why do you keep calling my parents sensei? My mother died before you were born, so you can't know of her." Naruto felt lightheaded as he fell to the ground.

"So that is why he said 'shit' the bastard screwed up again…" Naruto mumbled to himself before looking up at the guy again. "Tell me, is there anyone still alive in this city that was a ninja from before you were born?"

"Hmm," the man stood there thinking for a moment. "I think there is still one, but I wouldn't go there if I were you, children aren't welcome there and even adults dare not venture there either."

"Where is it?" Naruto asked quietly from his spot on the ground. "I need answers that only a ninja could provide." With a sigh the old man held out his hand to help the blonde up. After Naruto stood the guy pointed off into the distance, near the Hokage mountain.

"There is a small cottage at the base of the mountain in the remnants of the old clan district. The house will be the only one that looks inviting, but has not even a single soul anywhere near it."

"That's all?" The man nodded his head leaving Naruto to the only option of looking for the described house. "Well, thank you old man, and sorry about earlier."

"Don't mention it, I've had worse. And good luck, you'll need it." With a silent wave, Naruto proceeded straight for the base of the mountain.

* * *

It seemed like hours of walking in and through the maze of roads and passages to get in the direction he wanted to go, actually it was hours. Naruto kept looking up towards the mountain to judge the distance left and knew he was getting close when suddenly all the weird looking buildings disappeared leaving only smaller houses and shops like what he remembered Konoha looking like. He continued on where he saw many kids laughing and playing in various yards and fields until he came to one that was completely silent. The small house was surrounded in various flowers in the same level of care as the ones around the stone left in the field from earlier. It was a most beautiful yard, especially the small area that was left with only large yellow sunflowers surrounded by many other bright orange flowers that seemed to call to him with his favorite colors. 

"Well, this must be the place." Naruto proceeded up the walkway to the door. He expected some type of traps to guard a place that seemed untouched and secure, but nothing came as he ended up at the front door. After inhaling a deep breath, Naruto reached out and gave a firm knock on the door. "Hey! Anyone home!" He called out loudly, just incase the knock wasn't enough. Soon he heard loud stomping and muffled curses coming from behind the door until it flew open, revealing an old lady in her late 60's, early seventies, with dark hair, wielding a large frying pan in her hand.

"Damn it! How many times do I have to tell you all…?" The old lady stopped in mid rant and swing as she saw the blonde standing before her. Suddenly the pan dropped to the ground with a large clank as the lady's mouth remained open in shock. "N-Na-Naruto-kun?" Naruto moved quickly as he saw her eyes roll back into her head and caught her just mere inches from contacting the ground. Naruto stared at her unconscious face that was showing its age with a few wrinkles, but what was strange was he noticed her pale white eyes before she passed out.

"No… That's impossible…" Naruto muttered. Shaking his head he picked up the elderly lady and took her into the house and set her down on the couch. Deciding it was best to look around a bit to figure out this person, he set out in looking for pictures, but didn't have to travel far when he found a picture of himself, among many others that also contained his goofy face. Feeling slightly weird, he looked around and saw that every single picture in the entire house contained his goofy smiling face, and the one that seemed to be in the center of it all was one of him with his arm around a bright red faced girl while they were both wearing raincoats when searching for Itachi and Sasuke that one time back. Yet the strangest picture he saw was one that was hidden behind some others. The picture was of him covertly holding Hinata's hand as they were standing quite close to each other. "Hmm, don't remember that." Naruto soon heard movement from the lady and walked back to her side just in time for her to wake up in a panic and curled up in the couch as far away from him as possible.

"NO! Stay back! Not again, I thought they were gone for real this t-time. No…" Naruto felt bad that she was now hysterically crying and was afraid of him, but just had to know if it was her.

"Wait, please stop crying." He begged her. Almost instantly the tears stopped as it was replaced with a surprised and still scared look.

"They n-never t-talk…" Naruto inched closer to her while reaching out his hand. The lady gasped when she felt his hand touch hers, he felt real. "B-but, you can't…"

"Tell me, are you really her, are you really Hinata?" He asked as he gestured to the nearby picture.

"H-hai." She replied shakily. Naruto sighed and flopped down on the couch next to her and looked her in the eye.

"Hinata, how did you survive? I thought I saw everyone die, how did you live?" Before He knew what was happening, he found himself engulfed in the lady's arms as he felt warm liquid dripping onto his face from her.

"Naruto-kun… you really are alive. I'm not insane…" she murmured into his ear as she continued to hold him tighter, fearing he would possibly leave again.

"Hinata, please, let go of me. This is weird; you are just as old as baa-chan." Reluctantly she pulled away from him with a bright smile showing through her tears.

"Sorry, it is quite weird. I've never wanted to kiss someone that looks 50 years younger than I am." She replied with a slight blush on her aged face.

"I… Um, ok, well…" after coughing a bit to get over the surprise, which caused Hinata to laugh at his awkwardness, he finally found his words. "What happened Hinata?"

"You first, why are you here not any older than the last time I saw you?" Naruto sighed and stood up, removing the cloak to reveal his shredded clothing.

"Because for me, it has only been three hours since I saw you during that battle."

"How? Time travel? Can it really do that?" She asked, astonished by all of it.

"Yeah it can…. Whoa, hold on. What is 'it'?" She just laughed lightly at him as he sat down again.

"The Kyuubi silly, I've known since you were twelve, how do you think I knew when to send a gift for you on your birthday?" Now it was Naruto's turn to cry as he looked at her face holding a cheerful expression

"It was you? You were the one that sent the gifts?" Naruto didn't know what to say or feel, but knew he had to go back and change everything, and who knows what else could happen with this new knowledge. After quickly gathering himself, Naruto looked back at her.

"So what happened here, why are their no ninja and only five Hokages?" Hinata suddenly stood up from the couch and walked through a doorway into the kitchen and started rustling around in the cupboards.

"You want anything Naruto-kun, I figured a little tea would do us some good, it may take a while to tell the whole story." She called out from the room.

"Sure, I'll take some." About five minutes later, Hinata returned with a tray of tea and teacups along with a couple steaming cups of instant ramen.

"I'm sure you'd like some ramen as well." She gracefully sent the items down on the nearby table and handed the items over to him where he took and easily devoured the entire ramen contents while Hinata just watched with a smile.

"That was good, thank you."

"You are welcome Naruto-kun, I'm glad you enjoyed it." After picking up the empty cups, Hinata handed him a cup of tea to sip while they continued their conversation. "It was actually all really strange…."

* * *

Hinata woke to find herself in the hospital, but she had no aches and pains, which meant she was either knocked out or fainted during the battle. For once she hoped it was being knocked out and not due to her frail mindset. Looking around the room, she only saw Jiraiya and Tsunade sitting there looking at her like she was the last person on earth. What was really mysterious was why no one else was there, usually a friend was present when she awoke, but also, why was Jiraiya there. 

"Hinata, are you ok? How do you feel?" Tsunade asked while carefully watching her reactions.

"I-I think s-so. Is everyone alright?"

"What was the last thing you remember?"

"Um… I think I was g-going to the Hokage t-tower to be briefed about t-the upcoming battle. Then we started out for the battlefield." Tsunade sighed hard and rubbed the sides of her head.

"This will make it even harder then… Hinata, all your friends and colleagues are gone. All that we have left is you, Kurenai, Jiraiya, myself, the retired shinobi, and the genin. That battle already happened, everyone lost." Hinata looked to her like she was crazy until something smashed into her head like a ton of bricks.

She saw everything with her Byakugan as the medics fell first, followed by the strategists, and then there was a great roar as bodies from each side started to fall from an unseen entity. The sheer amount of chakra was decimating the lesser ninja while the more advanced ones were trying to ignore it and continue the battle. Hinata watched as she was frozen still as the beast raged forward killing everything in his path with arms of chakra tearing out organs and shredding flesh.

In an instant the beast was standing before her and she looked into his eyes, eyes that were very different, yet ones she has looked at for years. She saw that it was a possessed Naruto standing before her with a corpse from each side held in his hands like they were playthings. Hinata internally cringed at the sight, but wanted nothing more for the killing to stop and for Naruto to be safe as she watched his skin almost boil off his body. She stayed motionless as the beast dropped the corpses and reached out with his clawed hands and gently placed them on her shoulders.

"**You are the one that showed only kindness, not an ounce of ill actions or words, you will not die this day."** With a psychotic growl, spires of chakra shot out from him stabbing all the remaining living persons through the heart, killing them all where they stood. The sheer pressure of all that chakra pulled the consciousness away from the small Hyuuga as she fell forward into the heap of death.

Hinata opened her tear filled eyes as she held her head wanting the painful images to disappear, yet it never happened. She felt a calming hand rest on her shoulder and looked to the Hokage who could tell exactly what she was seeing.

"Why, why didn't he kill me? He destroyed anything alive and moving, but not me."

"Maybe he didn't see you." Jiraiya offered up, knowing it was a poor excuse.

"No, he saw me. His hands were on my shoulders as his chakra killed at least fifty ninja in one attack. He said I was the only one that only showed kindness."

"I see." Tsunade muttered. "Everyone has said something negative about Naruto at least once in their life, all except you. You loved him and I suspect you still do, even knowing about his secret. The Kyuubi must have seen this and couldn't bring himself to end your life. If only we could roll back time, there maybe some way we could stop all of it."

"Hokage-sama, where is Naruto-kun? I know he didn't die in the battle." Tsunade couldn't hold her emotions in anymore and broke down in tears, leaving Jiraiya to continue.

"When we got there, he was pushing out so much chakra that it was impossible to measure, and then he disappeared. It is our conclusion that he killed himself because he couldn't live with the knowledge that he failed to protect his village and friends and was even the instrument of many of their deaths." Hinata sighed and hung her head as she sat in the hospital bed.

"That does sound like him, he couldn't face anyone if he caused a friend's death." After those words were said, Tsunade held the small Hyuuga girl in her arms as they both wept over the lost shinobi for hours.

* * *

"Well, I guess that answers many things. Most of all it answered why you were so weird." Naruto lifted the glass of tea to his lips and took in a bit of the slightly bitter drink. 

"How so?" Hinata inquired.

"I never paid much attention, if I did, it would have been easy to see that your awkwardness around me wasn't because you were weird, but because you liked me. All those red faces over the years weren't you getting sick, they were extreme blushes from when I got too close, I just don't believe it."

"Well you should, you were all I thought about for decades. I still can't let you go from my mind. Now, where was I…? Oh yeah, I remember…"

* * *

A few months passed and Konoha was still trying to recover, but it was going nowhere, having no capable ninja spells certain defeat for a ninja village. They were attempting to train all their ninja much faster than before when a huge shockwave passed through the village and all training came to an abrupt end. Signs on the street reverted to their original design and Jiraiya fell head first into the hot springs from the ceiling he was stuck to with chakra, even his invisibility jutsu came undone. All around the village, things started to fall apart. Safes for keeping precious items opened and items sealed in scrolls just appeared where ever they were. Everything that involved chakra didn't exist anymore, chakra was gone. 

The Hyuuga clan fell apart as the caged bird seals disappeared and the dojutsu could no longer be activated. Even in the coming years the white eyes were absent from their children leaving the entire population normal. It soon spread throughout the nations that the very thing that made them special was now nonexistent, leaving many ninja out of work and quite literally worthless. It was at that time that the collection of all the Daimyos of the countries declared their hidden villages extinct and made them the capital of their countries, showing that the era of ninja was over.

Later it was discovered that the leader of Akatsuki tried to use himself in place of the ninth bijou and the result was the statue rebelled and absorbed the chakra of every living being, only leaving enough for us to survive and continually feed it. When the generations continued, the existence of chakra went with it leaving every newborn without a chakra network. Ninja are extinct in this time.

* * *

"So does this statue still exist?" 

"I believe so, I still feel my chakra, but there is nothing I can do with it since there is so little."

"Hmm, so what do your children look like?" Hinata jumped back in shock at his question. "Well, I, uh mean you had to of gotten married, there is no way anyone left you single." Naruto defended to side step the spotlight on his curiosity.

"Actually, I never married or even had a relationship. I was emotionally broken and spent many years in psychiatric care. After all those stays, I was seen as the crazy woman and men wouldn't ask, but I would have turned them down if they did. I still held onto hope that you still existed and would sweep me off my feet. But here I am old and bitter while you are still so young and energetic."

"I'm sorry Hinata, I never wanted that. I was trying to go back in time to stop everything from happening, but the Kyuubi messed up and moved me forward instead. He's sleeping now and probably wont wake for a while." Suddenly Hinata brightened as an idea struck her.

"You have the Kyuubi, maybe you still have control of chakra, try something." Not able to think of something small, Naruto held out his hand and instantly had a bright ball of chakra spinning in his hand. "Yes!" Hinata immediately tackled Naruto in a hug, causing him to fall over while she was still on top of him. "Oh, sorry." She muttered as she pulled herself off of him with a blush.

"That's ok Hinata, if it didn't seem so wrong with you being all old and stuff, I probably would have let you stay there. I really think we could have been great together. I never really let anyone know this, but I was always attracted to you, I just thought it would be futile to try anything with you being from the prestigious Hyuuga clan."

"I…. I…" Naruto's new revelation left her lightheaded and speechless, she couldn't help but feel like a girl again and not the old lady she was. "Naruto-kun, could you give me some chakra, just a little?"

"I'll try, what for?" She didn't answer as she grasped his hands.

"Just trust me." He relented and closed his eyes, letting some of his chakra flow into her. Feeling the flow stop, he knew she had enough for what she wanted. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Hinata he always knew, thanks to a henge over her older form. "Told you to trust me." She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his in a kiss she longed to execute for ages. All Naruto could see, hear, and feel was that of a young girl as he held her tighter to his lips before letting up and looking into her dreamy eyes.

"One last thing… Byakugan!" Peering around she could see very few places of chakra still being seeped away in a single direction, including nearly all of the Kyuubi's that was being regenerated. Stepping back from Naruto, Hinata was sad to see her eyesight return to normal and her aged skin return as she faded back to normal.

"I'm sorry if that seemed weird, but I needed to kiss you and I don't think you wanted to kiss an old lady. Now I figured out the direction of the statue by the concentration of chakra still flowing to it. Even all the chakra the Kyuubi is trying to regenerate is disappearing, so you only have yours and will never be able to return to the past to fix everything unless we destroy it. I also managed to find a few other ninja that are still alive. One is coming from Suna and the other is close to the old whirlpool village where Konohamaru lives, waiting for your possible return."

"So Gaara most likely, but why is Konohamaru by the old whirlpool village?"

"Because, he thought that if you were still alive, you would eventually go there." Hinata replied with a knowing smile.

"Why would he think that?"

"For only one reason, that is where your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, came from." Naruto gasped with his eyes wide. For so many years he has searched for the whereabouts and identity of his parents with no luck, the last place he would have tried to look was in the future, go figure.

"If you know who my parents were, why isn't he waiting in the village my father was from? I know that would be where I would go first."

"Naruto-kun, he isn't there because that is where I am. I live under your father's likeness, your father was none other than the fourth Hokage, the one that gave his life to protect the village by leaving the only job he couldn't finish up to his son. He left you with the task of destroying the Kyuubi. You are the son of Namikaze Minato, Konoha's yellow flash."

"You're kidding…" Seeing her clearly serious face, Naruto nearly died from informational overload and downed the rest of his still hot tea, burning his throat. "Yow! That's hot!" He screamed as he tore around the house childishly, causing Hinata to laugh joyously.

"Quit goofing around Naruto-kun. Go to the room down the hall and open the bottom drawer, there should be another set of your clothes there. We need to get going if we want to get you going as soon as possible."

"Uh, where are we going again?"

"To Suna to get Gaara and then to get Konohamaru." She replied through a sigh. "As the last living ninja, we should be able to destroy the statue which will allow you to return so this place never exists. Now let's hurry." Seeing Naruto smile and nod his head was enough to get Hinata excited about their travels. Naruto dashed into the back bedroom and threw on the clothes Hinata preserved for him and darted back into the large sitting room.

"Well, let's get moving. It's a stretch to get there by nightfall tomorrow at full speed." Naruto shouted only for Hinata to laugh once more at him.

"We won't have to run, things are much more modern now, we can get there by helicopter. I just contacted my pilot and well be in Suna in about three hours.

"Huh? Cool, but what is a helicopter?"

"It is a big machine that flies, I'm sure you'll like it, come on." Hinata pushed him out the door of the house and quickly followed behind him until she led the way to the helipad at the nearby airport. Many local citizens were surprised to see Hinata out and actually smiling as she talked to the young blonde walking next to her. When they arrived at the airport, they started to approach the helicopter when Naruto stopped.

"Oh hell no, I aint flying in that little death trap, I'll walk."

"Quit being a baby Naruto-kun, you would take on Itachi face to face, but not even go up in a helicopter. Now get going." Naruto reluctantly gave in and followed her into the contraption. His stomach started twisting as the noise from the machine hurt his ears even under the ear muffles. Before he knew what was happening, his eyes opened to see the ground whipping by as they traveled at great speeds through the open air.

"I guess it is kind of cool." Naruto quietly muttered as he peered out at the landscape causing a smile to grace Hinata's face. Naruto stayed silent the entire ride, just admiring the scenery, and was quite surprised they were already landing at the Suna airport.

* * *

"So, do you know where Gaara is?" Naruto asked as he took off the headgear from the flight. 

"No, and I believe it took too much chakra to transfer into my Byakugan, so we need someone capable of tracking." Naruto smiled and came up with the perfect idea.

"I've got it, Kuchiyose no jutsu!" After slamming his hand to the ground, out popped a small orange amphibian with blue jacket, but seemed much older this time around even though he was about the same size.

"Holy shit… Naruto!" Greeted the little toad.

"Hey Gamakichi, I need you to track someone."

"Sure thing, but why haven't we been summoned in the past 50 years, and why do you still look so young?"

"Hmm, chakra is pretty much extinct, and I am actually from 50 years ago. Now how about finding Gaara?" The small toad thought it was a bit weird, but when dealing with Naruto, that is just about normal.

"He was the crazy sand guy right?"

"Yep, can you find him?"

"Of course, he is just up the road if I'm still correct. Haven't used tracking skills in ages."

"Alright Gamakichi, lead the way." The three hurriedly maneuvered through the city until they came to something that appeared to be a retirement home. It was a decent sized building, and Hinata really had her reservations about how helpful an old guy stuck in a home would be, but kept silent as Naruto was still very optimistic. After letting Gamakichi return to his realm, they stepped through the main doors and entered an area that smelled just like a hospital, which now made Naruto apprehensive. Smiling at his sudden change, Hinata moved by and approached the main desk.

"Excuse me, what room is Gaara in?" Her sweet voice startled the unexpecting nurse but quickly started clicking away on the computer.

"Gaara you say?" The nurse looked over to a colleague for assistance. "Hey, isn't Gaara that old guy that starts fights with everyone and claims he can move sand with his mind?" Seeing the nurse nod, she turned back to Hinata with a smile. "He is in room 312, but you cant go in because he is a violent person. There is a window and a communication device that you can use instead."

"Thank you." Hinata replied kindly as she turned around with the smile fading. "Lets go Naruto, we need to get him out of there. They have him locked up for remembering the past."

"If you say so, lets break him out." As Naruto and Hinata searched for the room, Naruto had a sudden epiphany about the current situation. "Hey, Hinata, why are there so little ninja around? There were plenty of genin that didn't fight in that last battle." Immediately he saw her face fall from the cheerful façade into a sadder one.

"It was caused by thugs. People that were extremely strong but couldn't use chakra. For ninja it would be a cinch to defeat them but without chakra we didn't stand a chance. Most Hyuugas fell to them since their arrogance was still too high and without chakra our Jyuken strikes are worthless. There were many crime organizations that set out to eradicate ninja because they feared they would return to power one day. So that is why there are only three left."

"Oh…" Naruto felt sorry for asking, but it wasn't that long until they came upon the reinforced glass window of room 312. Peering inside, they could see an old grey-haired man facing the corner of the room without moving an inch. Naruto watched as Hinata walked up to the glass and pressed the intercom button.

"Gaara, its Hyuuga Hinata, I've come with someone to get you out of there." Gaara looked over his shoulder and saw the dark haired woman standing next to a young blonde kid. After standing up, he charged the glass and contacted it with his fist in anger.

"You assholes! This isn't a joke. It really happened! Quit making fun of me." Naruto looked to Hinata dumbfounded by his reaction and decided to talk himself in his usual diplomatic way.

"Gaara, you stupid sand monger, shut up and get away from the window before I shove this Rasengan up your ass!" Gaara turned from anger to surprise when he saw the chakra form. Running back to the other side of the room, he took the blanket off of his bed and threw it over his head before the sphere destroyed the glass sending sharp pieces flying everywhere.

"Naruto-kun, you could have tried the door." Hinata scolded as she left the spot behind him where she was hiding from the debris.

"Yeah, I guess I could have… I guess it just isn't my style."

"So thinking just wasn't your style either?" Came the older man's voice as he looked over the blonde.

"Well at least I age gracefully." Naruto retorted with a huff making the two aged ninja's spirits to lift even more.

"So what Shukaku mentioned about the higher demons using time travel wasn't a bunch of crazy talk?" Gaara commented as he stepped through the broken glass and joined the two Konoha ninja. "Where to now?" He asked since they weren't moving anywhere.

"I guess to get Konohamaru, he's the last one, and then we take down that statue that is draining away all the chakra. Then the Kyuubi can recover and I can go to the past like I tried the first time and change all this crap."

"Alright Uzumaki, but I'll need some chakra if you have some to spare for a little going away present." Seeing Naruto's grin start to match that of Gaara's, you knew a prank of sorts was brewing.

Naruto, Hinata and Gaara all walked calmly towards the nurse's desk. With a smirk, Gaara watched as one of the nurses went to take a sip of tea and got a mouthful of sand instead. Immediately she spit it out onto the desk where it formed into words. _"__Told you."_ The woman looked up and saw Naruto, Hinata and Gaara smiling and waving as they backed out of the building.

"That was quite enjoyable, let's get to that helicopter and get out of here before they come looking." Gaara mentioned before moving at his best speed to the airport. The three of them jumped into the machine and within minutes they were up and flying with the location of the old whirlpool village as the destination.

* * *

Everyone remained silent, partly because both Gaara and Naruto weren't quite fond of the machine and flying. Finally, a bit after dark, the chopper landed and allowed the travelers to embark for the night. 

"We'll travel to Konohamaru's house and stay for the night, then we'll take care of that statue." Hinata led the way through the city that stood where the whirlpool village once was and came up to a small house on the outskirts of town.

"So Konohamaru lives here?" Naruto asked, getting a brilliant idea.

"Yes he does, do we need to get a defibrillator ready?" Hinata asked, knowing what he was planning.

"Uh, if I knew what that was I could answer." Hinata just smiled and pushed him towards the door.

"Just go do it before I get impatient."

"You bet Hinata!" Naruto ran up to the door and did his infamous technique, leaving a naked woman with barely anything covering her private parts. With a grin he knocked on the door.

"Yeah, how can I… help… you?"

"Excuse me sir, I lost my towel sunbathing and my clothes are all gone when I woke up, do you think I could lay naked in your house instead?" Naruto asked with pouty lips, nearly breaking out in laughter. Konohamaru looked to be a cross between the third and Jiraiya as he drooled at the sight.

"Oh yes little lady, you can run naked in here all you want, but just be careful where you sit, there are some hard things lying around." He mentioned as he giggled perversely.

"That's bad Konohamaru-kun!" Hinata scolded as she punched his shoulder and walked into the house, followed by Gaara. When Konohamaru turned back to the girl, all he saw was a pile of orange laughing hysterically while rolling on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Naruto-nii-chan?" Naruto still couldn't keep it all in and continued laughing until Gaara came over and kicked him hard.

"Ouch, that hurt Gaara." He muttered while rubbing the injured spot.

"How is this possible?" Naruto immediately got up like nothing happened and looked around the room.

"Just a little time travel, you got some ramen or something, I'm starving."

"In the kitchen."

"Great!" Naruto bolted into said room on a mission.

"I'll go make sure he doesn't make a mess, we all know how Naruto gets excided with his ramen."

"Still?" Konohamaru asked but was quickly silenced by Hinata. "Oops, that could have sucked." He whispered much quieter as Hinata walked away to help Naruto.

* * *

After Naruto almost ate every bit of the ramen in the small house, they all set into beds for the night with little conversation. They all slept peacefully that night and woke to a cheery summer day. With a yawn, Naruto found a few more cups of ramen for breakfast while the others had a normal egg and toast breakfast filling them for the journey ahead. 

"You guys ready? That faster we get to that contraption, the faster I can get back!" Naruto didn't wait for anyone else to comment before he was gone, running for the helicopter. He reached there in record time, especially since no one could run like a ninja anymore, and about five minutes later the others arrived, still chatting along the way. They all went silent as they got within earshot of Naruto and approached the chopper.

"Let's load up!" Konohamaru announced energetically. They all boarded the aircraft and felt a bit cramped, but it was the best they could do.

It only took an hour before they landed in a meadow near the location of the statue they came to destroy. After they got unloaded, they all set out for the cave of the statue. After setting off many traps set up by Akatsuki many years ago, they stepped into the dark cave.

"So it's in here?" Naruto asked as he ventured further. Suddenly a shaft of light was seen from above, and there stood the giant nine eyed statue. "Well, I guess it is time you all stand back. Naruto produced two clones and stood in the middle of them concentrating on the task at hand. One Naruto provided the power, the other the rotation and the last gave out the wind element. The mass combined producing a huge amount of wind about the cave. The now spiraling ball of chakra spurted out razors like a shuriken, yet it didn't stop with a single one, three more sprouted outward and rotated around the axis.

"Take this!" Naruto ran forward and smashed the powerful attack directly into the top of the statue and shredded it from top to bottom easily before landing on the ground with a smile. Suddenly chakra erupted from the ground and swirled around all the inhabitants of the cave, returning their long lost power. Hinata immediately turned into her younger self and hugged Naruto while Gaara just smirked at what was coming next.

"Hey Naruto-kun…" Naruto looked over to Konohamaru just as he turned into a fully nude likeness of Hinata, causing the blonde's eyes grow wide at how she looked. "Ha, got you back!" He shouted as he laughed loudly.

"**That was unexpected, I've gotten all my strength back from that statue somehow, so I say lets go, I tire of the future already."**

'_If you say so flea bag, let me say bye to these and we'll leave.'_

"Alright guys, I guess it is time for me to go back, the Kyuubi is fully energized from the chakra and I shouldn't waste much time. Bye you all, I'd make it a bigger deal, but we'll be seeing each other again!" Naruto waved to the three smiling ninja and allowed the Kyuubi to do his thing. Once again Naruto had red chakra pouring out of him and running in torrents off his body, then disappeared.

"Let's go home, our job is done." Hinata declared and started for the mouth of the cave with a smile.

* * *

The great mass of Konoha ninja were gathered in formation as they marched towards their battle field ready for the grueling battle that was destined to begin that was surely going to cause countless casualties. Suddenly a shout was heard across the field. 

"HALT!" The entire battalion stopped their progression and looked to the visage of one blonde haired guy who sounded the command.

"Naruto, you are so troublesome. I'm the one that gives the commands."

"Yeah, but something isn't right."

"W-what is it N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, which made Naruto smile.

"Just hold on." Naruto reached into his ninja pouch for a kunai, but found a piece of paper instead. Knowing he didn't put it in there, he took it out to read it. _"Kiss her"_ was all it read. With a grin, Naruto looked directly at Hinata, causing her to blush. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips, making her tense even more, but made sure to stay conscious for this. Naruto leaned forward and took Hinata in her very first kiss. They stayed happily connected for a few more seconds before they parted, leaving them both breathless and Hinata near unconsciousness.

"What was that for?" Sakura demanded as she was about ready to punch Naruto.

"Something she really wanted and needed, plus I really liked it. Oh yeah, before I forget. AMBUSH!" Naruto quickly did his favorite jutsu and produced near one thousand clones that charged forward throwing kunai and shuriken at the sudden appearance of covert ninja that weren't ever detected by the best trackers.

The fierce battle waged on, but with Naruto taking down the entire first wave by himself, the others fell easily since the strategy relied only on the medics falling by the surprise attack. In only 20 minutes the enemy ninja were all decimated and Sasuke had fallen to Sakura who managed to avoid the Chidori he launched at her and crushed his skull with her fist, ending the battle. Naruto immediately found Hinata and gave her a hug.

"You and I are going out, ok Hinata?" She was ecstatic and nodded furiously in agreement as he took her hand. Suddenly a flash came over their faces that dissipated, showing Ino with a smile, holding a Polaroid.

"So, how do we look?" Naruto asked as he swiped the picture. His eyes went wide as he looked at it in amazement. "No, that can't be possible, can it?"

* * *

(50 years later) 

Hinata walked into a small yard and was embraced by an older guy who held her tightly.

"So how did I do?"

"Excellent my beautiful wife. It went exactly how I remembered." Suddenly a large blast of chakra erupted from the guy that dwarfed anything in comparison, a power only comparable to the nine tailed fox "KAI!" clapping his hands together, the scene around them changed. They were now standing outside the Hyuuga manor in all its glory and under all eight heads of the Hokage monument. Looking up the guy smiled at them.

"I think I'm getting old, by mug up there seems to have been put next to baa-chans so many years ago."

"Come on Naruto-kun, we're not old, just seasoned."

"And you are still beautiful Hinata." She smiled fondly at him and decided to ask a question burning in her mind.

"I always wanted to know one thing, why did we have to go to all this trouble?"

"Because time is weird. Think about it, if you changed the past, then the future will never be the same future of that past. If my younger self changed the battle from ever killing off so many, then he'd make this future not exist, a future where he never met you and never found how much he liked his Hinata, and therefore we'd never exist."

"So you had us recreate the events you remember from your journey to the future in this timeline so it would all end up the same?"

"Exactly, as you can see, I'm with you and ninja are still here, so the future I went to is no longer in existence, but I still needed that experience to make this future stay."

"It seems so weird. By all those accounts, time travel isn't possible."

"I know, it is all a mystery, that was why I figured that we were never meant to traverse time. It is a dimension we have no right tampering with. Come on, let's go to bed. I'm plain tuckered out canceling off that genjutsu."

"Yeah, not to mention you feeding all that chakra into that fake tower to recharge young Naruto."

"Yep, lets go my Hyuuga princess I've had enough." Naruto wrapped his arm around Hinata and headed into the Hyuuga manor.

"Good evening Rokudaime-sama, Hinata-sama. You turning in for the night."

"Yes we are, good evening." Hinata replied as the two nodded to the guard and disappeared to the massive room kept for the elder clan head.

* * *

(note) That is all, I hope it was interesting to read, that is just another idea out of the way...Later 


	4. The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Merry Christmas!... Well, eventually I will wish you one. It is a bit eary for Christmas, but not too early to get into the Christmas spirit...

This is a quick Christmas story... If you are opposed to adult content, keep an eye on the ratings as the chapters progress. Chapter one will be suitable for K+ nearing T, there are very few comments and situations not intended for younger viewers. Now Chapter 2 the rating goes up to purely T due to some more adult situations, but nothing too serious and the last chapter contains the M rated material. I have created a stopping points at each Chapter so you can choose when the content is too much for you.

Well I hope you all understand the above and enjoy...

* * *

**The Gift That Keeps on Giving**

Chapter 1 (Rated K+ border line T)

* * *

Konoha was entering the winter months and the weather was turning cold. It wasn't anything new to the village this late in November, but what was different was the fact that Tsunade had all of the usual young ninja in her office for a strange meeting. This was the year everyone would be 18, or older, and the Hokage decided that with all the issues with Akatsuki recently that they needed a small break and had a perfect way to work it in. 

"Hey Baa-chan, why did you call us all in here?" Naruto asked with an upset tone of voice.

"First, QUIT CALLING ME OLD! Next it is to announce an upcoming event for the young ninja. Each generation of genin will be grouped together for this event since you are close in age."

"Ok, Tsunade-sensei, what is this event you are planning?" Sakura asked politely.

"I was just getting to that. It has been quite some time since you all had a break, so I decided that this Christmas season, you will all be here in the village. I have taken the liberty of throwing a party on Christmas Eve, and to make it a little more interesting…" Tsunade reached under her desk and pulled out a small hat.

"Inside this hat are pieces of paper with names on them. You will each draw out a name and that person is who you will need to buy gifts for, but remember, you can't tell them who you are until after the party is over."

"So it is a slight twist on a Secret Santa?" Ino questioned quickly.

"Exactly, the way it works is each week you give this secret person a small gift, starting the first Monday of December, and a bit larger one the day of the party. It is suggested that you don't spend more than $5 on the small gifts and $20 on the larger one. So in all you should give and receive about $35 worth. Each gift can be opened the day they are received until the last one where you will open them during the start of the party. It is suggested that you give small hints to who your Secret Santa is over the course of the gift giving, but you can do what you want and how you want, as long as you keep them guessing until the last day. Before we all go home from the party, everyone can reveal who they had. Any questions?"

"We can spend more than the suggested on our gift, right?" Tenten asked.

"Yes, but don't go too far overboard." Tsunade replied and held out the hat. "Who goes first?" Kiba was the first to jump forward and pull out name and smiled when he read it. "Remember, no telling. I placed a special jutsu on them so if you blab, I'll know and you'll regret it." She warned with a look of impending doom.

"Yeah we got it baa-chan." Naruto snickered as he pulled out a name and pocketed it before reading it. The rest of the Konoha 11 took their papers out of the hat leaving Hinata as the last to pick. She stuck her hand in and felt absolutely nothing, there wasn't a single paper left. She sadly withdrew her empty hand when she felt Tsunade move quickly like she caught something.

"Careful Hinata, you dropped your paper and almost revealed it to everyone. You need to be more careful." Tsunade mentioned with a warm smile. Hinata just nodded and picked up the paper Tsunade 'saved' from falling and looked at it carefully. '_Uzumaki Naruto'_ Hinata kept her face straight as to not reveal it too easily and quickly pocketed the paper.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, it would have been bad to reveal it so clumsily." Hinata quickly moved back to the group of ninja and waited for anything else Tsunade had to say.

"Well, that is it. It is November 30 today, so you only have three days until the first Monday of December, happy hunting and have fun!" The large group all started cheering and loudly started talking about how much fun they were going to have at the party and how fun trying to figure out who their secret Santa was going to be as they stepped out of the office and out onto the streets of Konoha. The group separated and each went their own way. Once away from everyone else, Naruto took out his paper and smiled

"Man, this one is going to be so easy!" He shouted as he put the paper back into his pocket and took off running to buy all the gifts before hand since he knew exactly what to get his charge. 'Man, Choji is the easiest to buy for, I know just what the big gift will be, and I'm sure he'll almost cry.' Naruto thought as he kept running in search of the items.

Hinata was walking down the street in front of the Konoha shops trying to figure out what she should get her crush that would tell him exactly how she felt. After passing a window, she immediately stopped and looked thorough it and eyed the item in the window. 'Would he like it, or would he think it is weird?' She asked herself. She continued staring at it until for some unknown reason; she just entered the store and bought it on the spot. With a bright blush, she ran home to her room and pulled out some card stock from her desk and set in on making the other gifts since this one was all she could muster, and she still couldn't figure out if she could pull it off.

* * *

Most of the village was exceptionally cheerful for the coming days knowing that the winter holiday was approaching. Most of the Konoha 11 had everything figured out for their gifts, but Hinata was still quite unsure. She got through with her shower and just looked in the mirror at her naked form. 

'I don't know if I should go through with this…' She turned to the left, then turned to the right before letting out a sigh and started getting dressed. After being fully clothed again she sat down at her desk and looked over everything she made over the past few days. 'I hope Naruto-kun doesn't get upset that the first few gifts are cheap, I just hope he likes the final gift.' Hinata quickly took the first envelope and stashed the others away in a locked drawer before she left the Hyuuga manor in search of a perfect place to hide the envelope for him to find when she is long gone. Since it was quite early, she knew he'd still be sleeping, so she decided to bring it by a place she knew he'd be at before long.

"Oh, hello Hinata, Naruto-kun hasn't been by yet." Greeted the young waitress at Naruto's favorite Ramen place, Ichiraku's.

"I know Ayame-chan, I just need you to give him this envelope when he arrives, and make sure it is kept a secret."

"Sure thing, he should be in shortly, we all know how he likes eating ramen." Hinata giggled and hurriedly left Ichiraku's ramen and made sure to get plenty of distance from the restaurant as to not let any suspicion arise. Within a few moments, she was back at home where she nearly tripped over a small package. With a bright smile she opened it and pulled out a single well crafted dagger that would be easily concealed. 'Tenten, you make it too easy…' Hinata chuckled and carried the package into her room and shut the door.

* * *

Shino was out early, like usual, and found his package on his front step. Quickly pulling it open, he knew exactly who it came from. "A fly swatter… Nice one." Shino adjusted his glasses and continued his early morning routines. 

Meanwhile, Kiba was returning home from a run across town and found a small package on his door step. He tore it open and had the same reaction as Shino. "A chew toy… you'll pay for that Shino."

It went like that much of the day, each one getting a gift from their respective givers. Naruto was currently running to Ichiraku's after dropping off his first gift for Choji; you could never go wrong with chips. He ducked under the canvas and shouted out the usual.

"Hey old man, time for some ramen!" Naruto smiled at the two caretakers of the store and took his usual seat at the counter as Ayame walked up to him.

"What flavors are you feeling like today Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm… How about a double of beef and one chicken." She smiled and took his order to the back for Teuchi to cook up and returned with a small envelope.

"This was left here for you." Ayame informed as she handed the envelope over. Naruto looked it over before opening it and reading the contents.

'_Your first three gifts won't be much to look at nor will they be something useful. I decided that you will only receive the best gift I can offer, a gift that keeps on giving. It is very simple to make your gift work, just accept it when you receive it.'_

"That's weird… But a gift that keeps giving is something I'll love." Naruto looked up and found a steaming bowl in front of him and smiled as he grabbed for his chopsticks "Itadakimasu." A few minutes later, Naruto was a few bucks lighter and a few bowls heavier and hurried off to take care of some training. Just because it was their time off, doesn't mean you can slack off.

* * *

A week went by and the ninja were getting quite excited again for the gift giving on Monday. Naruto hurried back from dropping off Choji's 'three free bowls of ramen' coupon and stepped in to Ichiraku's for his usual morning meal. Even though the last gift he got was only a well designed card, he was excited to hear more about this perfect gift he was going to receive. He sat down at his usual spot and Ayame slipped him another envelope as he gave his order. He quickly opened it and read the contents. 

'_There are more things to know about your gift. One thing is that at times it will be very strong and at other times quite fragile, so when you receive it, take good care of it. This gift that keeps on giving will not work if you choose to ignore it.'_

"Hmm, it is like a riddle… What could be strong at times but fragile the next?" Naruto continued pondering this idea. It almost seemed like Shikamaru was the one handing out the envelopes, but Naruto knew he would never go to the trouble of designing the cards, so that was out the window. Before he could come to a conclusion, he was already through his ramen and decided to wait and figure out what it could be in the next week.

Tenten was giddy as she opened her second gift. Just by the weight and feel of the package, she knew it was another weapon. When she saw what it was, she nearly passed out from excitement. It may not have been very expensive, but something about heavily dangerous items would set her off. It was a short sword, much like a letter opener, but clearly one made for actual use rather than cutting an envelope. She pulled it from the sheath and admired the edge as she touched the blade to determine its sharpness. When a bit of blood appeared on her finger, she seemed to get even more excited. She sheathed the blade and found the perfect spot to hide it, right on her inner thigh. Sure it may not be the most comfortable place to hide a weapon, but not many guys would search there, unless they were openly perverted.

Shino and Kiba both enjoyed their gifts, but not in the usual way. They were items that brought laughter and enjoyment. Shino gave Kiba human dog biscuits and Kiba gave Shino a value pack of fly paper. Kiba knew Shino would never use them, but since they have known each other for years, if something could get the bug lover to smile, gag gifts would. Kiba actually tried one of the biscuits and found they were pretty good and finished off the box, with some help from Akamaru.

Although most of the ninja were enjoying their gifts, Neji was trying to figure out why the world hated him so much when he hefted a heavy box into his room. He didn't even open the box as he stuffed it into his closet; he knew they were leg weights. And where there are leg weights, there is Lee.

* * *

Yet another week and it was the last gift giving time before the party. Kiba opened his gift and couldn't hold back a laugh as he pulled out a dog dish with 'Kiba' written on it. "Nice Shino, but is it as good as that bug bomb I gave you?" HE asked the air as his laughter billowed out. 

Naruto ran quickly to Ichiraku's for his early meal and to get the usual envelope. He placed his order and tore open the gift and started reading.

'_Another thing to keep your gift working for a long time: When you treat it with respect, it will always return it whe ever you need comfort. When your gift is near you will never have to be sad or lonely, nothing is outside your reach with a gift that keeps on giving.'_

"Not having to be sad or lonely, if that is true, why haven't I found this gift sooner?" Naruto quickly pocketed the envelope and left for his morning training, he will at least get to see what the gift is in one week.

* * *

The week went by agonizingly slow just waiting for the day of the party to arrive, but finally it was here. It was a brisk morning on that December 24th; the air was colder than usual as it dipped down to nearly 40 degrees. As the darkness started rolling in, nearly everyone had their coats on and were headed to their party room for the festivities. Hinata had just barely finished making a huge box for her gift, complete with metallic red wrapping paper and a white ribbon and bow. She smiled at how nicely it turned out and quickly sealed it away in a scroll to keep it hidden and got dressed and bundled up for the cold air outside. She quickly caught up with the rest of the Konoha 11 as they all entered the party room. They all took a minute to admire the decorations about the room and shoved all the gifts in a corner where no one really paid attention to who placed their gift where. 

"Welcome to your Christmas party." Tsunade announced as everyone took off their coats. What surprised the group the most; was that Lee wasn't wearing his bright green jumpsuit and didn't look quite as freaky as before since the bowl haircut was gone. It was definitely something that Sakura noted as well with a small smile.

Everyone started chatting as the gifts were handed out. When they were all given, the opening process began. First up was Shino and Kiba; almost simultaneously they each pulled out their gift and caused the whole room to burst out laughing.

"Thanks Kiba, a bug zapper, just what I wanted." Shino dryly stated with his glasses rising on his cheeks showing that there was a bit of a smile.

"Hey no problem, but what is this thing?" Kiba asked.

"It is a leash and muzzle for Akamaru." Shino explained.

"Huh? I could never make him wear that, besides it would never fit him."

"Who ever said the muzzle was for Akamaru to wear?" Kiba's face paled as the room started laughing again.

"Come on Kiba try it on." Naruto called out happily, although he wasn't feeling much in the joyful mood since there was no gift for him left in the corner. He decided he was going to try and enjoy the party anyways.

The laughing continued as Lee tried to get Neji to wear the spandex jumpsuit he got him. All he did was punch Lee quite hard and wore a slight smirk before sitting down. Suddenly everyone's attention was brought to Choji's tearing up eyes. They couldn't quite figure out what could make him so emotional, so Ino just had to ask.

"So what did you get?" He held up three little pieces of paper and had a huge smile on his face. "What!? Who the hell would get you three tickets to barbeque? That is the worst present ever!" She shouted loudly while Naruto just smiled.

"Are you nuts Ino!? These aren't ordinary tickets, they just happen to be three tickets for free all you can eat barbecue!" Choji defended eagerly.

"So, those are easy to find."

"Not **unrestricted** ones! They are not all _you_ can eat, they are all _I_ can eat!" He replied with fire in his eyes. "Naruto, this is the best gift ever!" He called out. Only another person with a food addiction could appreciate that type of gift, so it was easy to figure out who gave him his gifts.

The rest opened their gifts and were overjoyed by what they were. Shikamaru got a pewter chess set from Choji, Ino received a glass flower from Shikamaru, Sakura got clothing from Ino, Tenten got a brilliant sword from Neji, and Lee received a 'one free date' from Sakura, as long as he didn't wear the green jumpsuit. Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves as Naruto moved away from the group and sat on a distant couch. He didn't quite pay attention to who figured out who had who otherwise he could have figured out who didn't get him anything. He knew he was used to going through holidays and birthdays without gifts, but the problem this time is someone offered him nearly everything he ever wanted in a single gift and failed to deliver. He sighed and stood up, making his way to the door, when he bumped into Hinata as she was inspecting a special chakra enhancing glove Tenten gave her.

"Naruto-kun… are y-you leaving?"

"Yeah, I've had enough for one night." Hinata saw the sadness in his eyes and realized that among all her planning, she forgot to get him something to open at the party, which meant he was upset and thought he was forgotten. He moved to the door and threw his jacket on with sadness and anger showing. He took one last look behind him and saw Sakura dancing with Lee, Shikamaru talking in a corner with Ino, and even saw Tenten steal a kiss from Neji while Choji, Kiba and Shino all talked over a large bowl of chips. What he didn't notice was the side door just shutting and that Hinata was no longer in his sight, but somehow that small girl could disappear in a completely enclosed room without him knowing it. Naruto made an upset noise at how everyone was completely content and headed out into the cold darkness.

* * *

Hinata hurried to Naruto's apartment and quickly pulled the giant box from the scroll and placed it in front of the door. Hinata really contemplated not going through with it, but after seeing his dejected look at the party, there was no way she could back out now. She finished her preparations and got herself hid right as Naruto was rounding the corner with keys in his hand. He made it to the door and saw the brilliantly wrapped box which brought a smile to his face. 

"I guess they didn't forget." He tried to lift the box, but it seemed quite heavy to outright lift, so he opted to just drag the box into his apartment. He closed the door behind him and locked it for the night. Casting off his jacket, he pulled out the envelope from the top of the box and tore into it to read it.

'_Inside this box is the gift that will keep on giving as long as you remember everything I have told you in the past and right now._

_1. You must accept it for it to help you_

_2. Take good care of it, it may be strong but is also fragile at the same time_

_3. Treat it with respect and you will never have to feel loneliness again_

_4. Most importantly, to make your gift as giving as possible, hold it close whenever you can and show it that you want it to be around, and don't ignore it._

_These are the rules in keeping the gift that keeps on giving. As long as you follow them, you will have this gift forever.'_

"Well, I guess I accept, but can this gift really give me what I really want?" Naruto knew there were plenty of things the gift would probably never come through with, but it was an attempt. He took a deep breath and lifted the lid off the box and was stunned to see what was inside. Bright reds, brilliant whites, and even some midnight blues assaulted his senses, but most amazing of all were the pale orbs of almost lavender looking at him.

"M-merry Christmas, Naruto-kun." Naruto watched as Hinata stood to her full height allowing him to see exactly what she was wearing. It was a simple Santa style suit, but if anything existed like this at the North Pole, Santa would never leave. She had a classic red, fur trimmed, hat, with the fuzzy ball at the end, sitting atop her head as she looked at his face with mouth wide open. Further down, all she was wearing were matching fur trimmed bra and panties accentuating her fit abs and legs. Naruto had yet to move and could really see why Jiraiya would spy on women if they all looked like that.

"P-please say something Naruto-kun."

"What is this?" Is all he could say in his distracted form.

"I've tried subtle ways to get through to you, but this is a more direct way. The gift I am giving to you is the gift of my love. It is the most precious thing I can give and it is all yours. If you need comfort, I will be there for you, if you feel lonely, I will chase it away. All I ask in return is that you accept my gift and hold me when I feel fragile. I will give you all I have if you will have me. I've tried to say it before but always failed; Naruto-kun, I love you." He just stared at her for a few more moments before he slowly walked up to her and embraced her in a strong hug. Suddenly she started feeling warm, wet liquid splashing down on her bare shoulder from above.

"Naruto-kun?" She pulled back and saw he was crying as he held onto her.

"At first I thought it was a joke, a gift that keeps on giving, but now I understand what you mean. There was one thing that I never expected this gift to be able to give, though, and that was a person to care for me when I need it and give me someone to love. I guess you delivered on your promises; that is the nature of giving love. It is something that never ends and will always be with you. No other gift has the ability to bring happiness for a lifetime. This is the perfect gift and I hope I can take care of it like instructed so it will never go away." Naruto lightly brushed his lips across hers in a very gentle and soft kiss. After looking her in the eyes, he saw those shimmering pools roll back into her head as she fell limp in his arms.

"I guess it was too much to stay conscious, all that blushing got away from her. At least I have figured out why she faints." He chuckled lightly through his tears of happiness. He pulled her into his arms and lay down on the couch with her resting comfortably on him as he pulled a blanket over the both of them.

"You truly are the gift that keeps on giving; I hope that in the future I can give you the very same present."

* * *

Chapter 2 (Rated T)

* * *

Thirty minutes later Hinata started waking up from her emotional overload. She really liked the warm feeling she got from the heated surface she was lying on and realized that her dream may have been the one that came true that night. She moved around and looked up at blue eyes staring back with a smile. 

"Welcome back, I think you should take it slower, you don't need to over do it on my account. I just want to know one thing, why didn't you tell me how you felt earlier? You are quite pretty and just the fact that you like me makes you so much more attractive than any other."

"I was scared, and to top it off, I kept f-fainting around you." She mumbled quietly.

"Yeah, that is true, but how did you manage not fainting until I kissed you?"

"I-I don't know, but I'm glad I did." She told him with a smile.

"So, can you give me one more thing?" Naruto asked with a look of being up to something.

"I guess…"

"Will you let me look at your outfit again? It is so sexy." She giggled and pulled herself off of him and stood up with her back towards him. It was at this moment that Naruto realized that if there was any less clothing on her butt, it would have been a thong. She sat on his table directly in front of him and looked at him sexily as she crossed her legs.

"Yes, you can look all you want, that is what I bought it for. If you really want to remember how I look, we could take some pictures also." Naruto quickly agreed and ran to his room to fetch his camera and was back out to her blushing side in no time. He looked over her gorgeous body one more time before he started snapping pictures as she posed differently. After nearly 30 minutes of taking pictures, they loaded them into Naruto's old computer and started looking at how they turned out as Hinata looked over his shoulder.

"My boobs look so big in these pictures." She commented as the different poses went by, some of them very provocative, which made her blush at seeing them. Naruto turned his head towards her and looked at the very same objects which she was resting on his shoulder.

"Well, that is because they are. I'd say about twice the size of Sakura's." he commented with a smile.

"And how do you know what size Sakura's are?" She asked with fake annoyance.

"No reason, just guessing. Besides, I like yours better; it is no wonder you would always wear a jacket. Although I may have paid attention to you more if you didn't wear it."

"I know you would have, but it would have been for the wrong reasons. Just like how you liked that 'ultra pretty girl' that was naked, dancing on the water, on the bikouchu mission."

"Yeah, maybe you're right… wait, I don't remember telling you she was naked. How did you know?"

"Because I was there. Wasn't it a bit strange that her dance and my jutsu looked similar?"

"Uh, now that you mention it…" He looked at her blushing face and smiled. "Well, I guess you're stuck with me. Are there any pictures you want to take?"

"Hai, I want some with you." Naruto pulled the memory card out of the computer and stuck it back in the camera.

"Alright then, I'll need a clone since I don't have a timer on this thing." He quickly made a clone and sat on the couch with Hinata sitting on his lap. They took a few pictures, but something didn't quite go together, that was when Hinata took off the Santa hat and put it over Naruto's spiky blonde hair. She giggled at how he looked and knew it was going to be a great picture, although she knew no one could ever see them. After a few more snaps, Hinata was done, but she was held for one more. Naruto gently grabbed her chin and brought his lips gently to hers. Tenderly pressing them together, they had their second kiss, which was caught in a picture. When they were proofing the pictures this time around, Hinata stopped the progression on one where she was laughing joyously and she finally realized something she never knew before.

"Am I really that hot?" She asked out of disbelief when she actually saw how all her curves were in proper proportion and was nearly perfect. Naruto laughed at her and kissed her cheek.

"Definitely, why do you think I wanted another look?" They flipped through some more of the pictures and Hinata saw the ones she wanted.

"I want the one where we're kissing and the one where we are laughing." Naruto nodded his head and printed off the pictures. Hinata picked up the four pictures that printed and leafed through them before stopping on one.

"Naruto," She stressed a little louder in disbelief. "Why did you print that one?" Naruto looked at her with a guilty smile.

"Well, you look so cute. I'm framing it and putting it next to my bed so I can see you every morning." She just shook her head and handed it over. Naruto smiled when he laid eyes on the picture of Hinata lying on her stomach, while on the table, with her feet in the air, supporting her chin on her hands with a blushing smile. Nearly all her chest was visible and most of her butt as well at the angle it was taken in.

"Here are yours Hinata, just make sure you hide them well, because if Neji finds them, he may start thinking family lovin is acceptable."

"Eww, gross Naruto!" She shouted as she slapped his shoulder hard.

"Ouch, sorry." He apologized as he rubbed his shoulder. "Speaking of family, shouldn't you be going home?"

"Why you want me to leave?" She teased with a smile. "Actually this is the one time of year I can do what I want. Most of the time I use it to get away from my family and just rent a hotel, or something, for the three days until my birthday. I really only have to go back when it is my birthday since the Hyuuga make a big deal about it. Would you be willing to go with me? I know father isn't too keen on having you around, but I do get one special request as a clan gift. Please?" There was no telling her otherwise once she looked at him with those pleading eyes of hers.

"Of course I'll go. I need to show I'm not willing to let you go, not after I found someone that can love me."

"Great. I hope you don't mind, but until then, I'm going to stay here." She didn't wait for a reply as she giggled on her way to Naruto's room and shut the door. Seconds later she returned in a huge t-shirt that came down to her mid thighs. She bounced happily back into the room with her cute blush still on her face.

"Hey, who said you could wear that? I just got that as a birthday present a while ago."

"I know. I still had to take the tags off; I really thought I took them off before wrapping it." Hinata ignored his looks of surprise and opened a cabinet; looking for the ramen she knew was hiding. She found it on the top shelf and started reaching for it as the shirt started riding up, showing off a good portion of her shapely butt.

"Hinata! Are you wearing underwear?" Naruto shouted out as he realized something should have been covering that flesh. She looked over her shoulder with a cute smile and a tinge of red in her cheeks.

"Nope." She lunged for the ramen, fully exposing her bum to him for a brief second before the shirt had her flesh covered again.

"You are going to make me insane." He muttered quietly.

"Good, now you want some ramen?" She was enjoying every moment of what she was doing to him. It was about time she got some payback for him being so dense. After all those years of watching him and not able to do anything, she was finally to remove her inhibitions and do anything she wanted, and that was to have all of Naruto's attention. After they had their quick snack, Hinata let out a small yawn. "I think it is time to head to sleep." She announced through another yawn.

"I suppose so. I'll sleep on the couch, you can have my bed." He started walking towards the couch when his arm was grabbed by Hinata.

"I don't think so Naruto-kun, you are sleeping with me. I haven't made it this far to not have you hold me while we sleep; remember, it is in the rules." Hinata continued dragging him into the room and soon found herself snuggled up in Narutos chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Good night Naruto-kun."

"It definitely will be. This gift keeps getting better and better. It really does 'keep on giving'." He gently kissed her cheek and the two of them found sleep easier to reach being close to someone that cares.

* * *

Naruto woke the next morning still holding something soft and warm in his arms. He smiled and hugged Hinata closer and inhaled her scent, memorizing how she felt and smelled, just incase she regretted what she did; at least he'd still remember something. 

"Merry Christmas Naruto-kun." She yawned out as she stretched her arms outward.

"Merry Christmas Hinata. I have a question; do you regret doing what you did?" Hinata maneuvered herself back around so she was facing him and looked in his eyes.

"Yes." She saw his happiness fade and smiled. "I regret not doing this sooner." She quickly moved in and stole a kiss. "Why is it so warm in here?" She asked since they slept the entire night without a single covering.

"Oh, well this apartment has utilities included so when the heat does work, I like to use as much energy as I can so the bastard pays for it. Do you want me to turn it down?"

"No, I like it warm, I was just wondering." Naruto laid there for a little while longer, just staring into Hinata's eyes, before he pulled himself away from her and got up. Apparently all the rolling around made Hinata's t-shirt ride up, reveling the flesh of her backside, as she continued lying on her stomach with her legs held tightly together.

"Hinata, your cute butt is showing again." Naruto advertised as he gently patted her bare skin with a hand. She giggled and wiggled her butt around.

"You really think it's cute?"

"I think all of you is cute, your face, your boobs, and your ass." Naruto was happy as he saw Hinata's face turn a little red and knew it was still Hinata and not some joke being pulled on him. "I'm going for a shower, and behave yourself, I don't know where the shy Hinata went, but this one can cause a bit of trouble."

"I think I killed the shy Hinata. I think she suffocated from being buried behind that wall of fear I always had. Don't you think I'm more fun now?"

"You are definitely more fun to be around, just don't let your blushing go away; it makes you look so cute." Naruto quickly grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom while Hinata continued lying on the bed to wait for his return.

Naruto came back in about fifteen minutes and looked at Hinata, still lying on the bed, with a smile as he finished toweling off his hair. It appeared as though she adjusted the shirt, but still didn't have much of her bottom covered, and it looked like it was done on purpose. Naruto really wondered how such a shy and reserved person could be such a tease, but thought that maybe she was always like that and just needed to be comfortable with whoever she is around. Either way, he knew she was going to be fun and exciting to be with her.

"I can see you're being naughty; I thought I told you to cover your butt." Naruto scoled with a clearly fake annoyance.

"You did, but I like having you nervous around me instead of the other way around. Do you still like seeing it?" She asked with a sly smile on her face as she looked at his form over her shoulder.

"Well, be that way Hinata. Just try and keep yourself covered and take off the shirt, I want to show you something I learned while training with Jiraiya." Hinata looked at him strangely, and with a full on blush she shrugged her shoulders and worked the shirt off of her body without getting off the bed or showing her privileged skin. Naruto stared at her naked body in awe. It was quite unusual to see a naked girl, but even more so to have one right in front of you who just revealed that she loves you. He tried to clear his mind of how he wanted to touch her creamy skin and caress each and every curve of her recently matured body, yet he failed to do so and enjoyed every minute of it.

"So what did you want to show me?" She asked curiously. She knew that she was willing to do whatever he wanted to do, but didn't want to admit it openly. Hinata still wanted to keep her innocence and have a real relationship with all the ups and downs, but if he wanted to move faster, that was ok with her. She smiled inwards as he took the damp towel he was using and placed it on her butt to give her some decency, she knew he wouldn't take advantage of her until he was ready for everything it entails. Hinata lied patiently, waiting for whatever he had in store and was rewarded greatly as his warm hands pressed firmly on her back.

"OOOhhh, that's heavenly." She moaned out loudly as Naruto started working her lower back. She continued more sounds of complete pleasure with each and every movement done.

"You really should relax more Hinata, you have knotted muscles everywhere." He commented as he set in on releasing another tense muscle.

"Where… where did you learn this?" She muttered as he kept pressing on her soft skin.

"There was a little village that we stopped in, near the beginning of my training, where Ero-sennin decided we needed to rest, even though we only just started for the day. We went to this spa type of building where all these half dressed ladies were walking around catering to guys that entered. Ero-sennin was pulled away by two women that seemed to know him and left me all alone in the lobby. A little time after, an older lady came up to me and took me into another room and started showing me how to give a deep muscle massage. She told me I'd definitely be able to use it some day, but I didn't know why until now."

"Uh, Naruto-kun, did you know what type of place that was?"

"Not at the time, but I do now, stupid pervert. What is even worse is he would take my money to spend on his hookers when he had plenty of cash from his stupid books."

"At least you learned something useful from a hooker… Mmm, a bit lower." Naruto's mood came back up again as he knew his massage was very pleasing to her.

"How's that?" She just groaned pleasingly and nodded her head. After a few more minutes, he felt her muscles were all relaxed and taken care of. He moved his hands up to her arms and partially lay on her back to get to the ear opposite of where he was standing.

"So… Can I call you my girlfriend?" He whispered quietly to her. She giggled lightly at his somewhat idiotic question.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." She enjoyed the warm pressure she got from him lying on her and felt goose bumps form from his breaths on her neck. With no warning, she quickly found herself squirming under him as he tickled her neck when he took a taste of her tender flesh. Hinata was beyond happy that Naruto was returning affection so openly with her which meant he really wanted her happy. She pulled his lips from her neck and twisted slightly to bring him in contact with her lips. During this kiss, Hinata felt it was much deeper and many times more sensual then their first few kisses. She knew that if it would continue much longer, she would probably roll over, revealing herself completely, and want to be taken at that very moment. Before that bridge was crossed, she broke it off with a dreamy smile.

"I think you need to get some clothes, I can't have you dressed so scantily around me, I just might want to see more." Naruto commented while he was now sporting a slight blush.

"Ok, but if you want to see more, you just have to ask. I'll move as fast as you want to, but I don't want us to get too physical until you know for sure that you love me and will never leave."

"That's a deal." Naruto stood up and started walking out of the room, but not before swiping his towel away and lightly slapping Hinata's bare bottom, causing her to yelp in surprise. Before she could scold him, the door was shut, leaving her alone. A few moments later, Hinata came out in her usual clothing that she had sealed in a scroll when she was in the box. Picking up her pictures, she headed for the door.

"Naruto-kun, I'll leave my Christmas outfit with you since I'll have no need for it without you. I'll be back and then we'll have a good holiday meal together." She didn't wait for a response from him before she hurried out the door. Once on the street she took of at full speed with a giddy outlook, when she suddenly contacted something hard, knocking the breath out of her. Seconds later, the air was back in her lungs as a single tear escaped her eye from the sudden pain.

"I'm sorry Hinata, I didn't see where I was going." Hinata looked up and saw it was none other than Sakura looking back. Hinata then realized her precious pictures weren't in her hand, and much to her horror, Sakura was picking them up from the ground. Hinata immediately froze in embarrassment as the pink haired girl looked at her with saddened eyes.

"Oh god, Hinata, I'm so sorry, I knew Naruto was just like every other guy." She sympathized as she looked at the picture of a well built woman sitting on Naruto's lap, laughing in one and kissing in the other. Hinata looked at her with a puzzled gaze and looked at the pictures herself, and noticed her eyes were closed in each of the pictures. "If you'd like to talk about this, I'm here for you. I can't believe it myself."

"It's ok Sakura, really, it couldn't be better."

"But, it feels like he's cheating on you and with this half dressed unknown chick… It just isn't right."

"I'm fine, besides, you wouldn't believe how comfortable that outfit is, and to top it off, he is a passionate kisser, you'll never know, but I do." Hinata quickly swiped the pictures away and held them to her chest while looked at Sakura with an embarrassed smile, before hastily turning and escaped the incoming questions by running quicker than ever towards the Hyuuga manor.

"Was that really…? Could she have…? Did Naruto really…? Nah, Impossible!" Sakura shouted to herself trying to have everything she saw make sense in her mind. Feeling it was just a mistake, or possibly a hallucination; she shrugged it off and continued to find some last minute items for her mother.

* * *

Hinata made it to her room nearly out of breath and decided to hide her precious pictures before she grabbed some spare clothes and quite a few more supplies from the deserted kitchen. She always thought that it was weird that the entire house seemed empty on a holiday which always involved family. This showed her that even when you have people who are family, they aren't really family until they show it. This was the reason she wanted her own family, one that would always have abundance of love and they would always spend holidays together. Hinata quickly snapped her mind away from the future and finished packing up the items she needed and headed back out into the village. She did much of the same in years prior, so there was no resistance from the guards at the gate. 

In only a few minutes, she was back at Naruto's apartment and let herself in without much of a sound. She looked around the apartment and noticed Naruto wasn't there anymore. She tried to figure out where he went and sadly started for the table. Just then she felt arms wrap around her from behind. In a normal situation, this would be frightening, but at the speed and carefulness that they tightened, she knew the arms and melted into the embrace.

"I don't know if you can believe it, I know it is even hard for me to believe, but I really missed you." He whispered to her ear, and then kissed her cheek.

"You did?" She though it was a bit strange that they just got together, and he wanted her presence so badly, but she missed him as well and couldn't hold that against him.

"You bet, I'll help you cook lunch and then after we eat, I just want to hold you, if that is ok."

"I like that plan, but you'll have to let go of me so I can start." She informed as she found it difficult to walk around with him hanging on the back of her.

"I guess…" He reluctantly pulled away, just to find Hinata twirling around and stealing a quick kiss before setting in on starting the meal.

They both worked hard to complete the meal as soon as they could and were quite satisfied at the spread they came up with. They both sat down and realized that whoever came up with the idea of eating across from each other needs to be shot. They scooted close to each other and started eating. Not more than a few seconds into the meal, Hinata felt her left hand being pulled into a large and warm one and looked to her left and saw Naruto smiling and eating with his left hand since his right was occupied by hers. After seeing he could actually eat like that, she tightened her hand around him and started eating again.

They lightly chatted about missions and a few other random things throughout their lunch feast and found they really had much of the same interests giving them plenty to talk about. Naruto felt that this was exactly what his life was missing, a girl, and better yet, a pretty one that could understand him in ways he never thought was possible. He looked up from his slight thinking spell and noticed his eyes falling into the sparkling pools of almost lavender staring back at him. The moment Hinata noticed him staring in her eyes, a redness floated into her cheeks and she adverted her gaze.

"Don't Hinata." Naruto nearly ordered with his tone as he held her chin and pulled her gaze back. "Don't hold back on what you want to do and feel. If I can stare at you, then you can feel free to do the same." She nodded shyly, almost like she was back to her usual self and started to pick up the dishes. Naruto followed suit and helped her with the chore.

After they were done, Naruto took her hand and pulled her to the couch and lied comfortably on the cushions, leaving almost no room for Hinata. She didn't know what to think about it until she noticed he was trying to tell her to lay with him. She found it awkward to maneuver herself practically on top of him, but soon found a comfortable corner where she could look at his face and kiss him if she desired to. She placed her hand on his warm chest and lightly moved it around before she let out a sigh and fell nearly limp in his protective arms.

"I don't believe this Naruto-kun, but, I think I love you even more now. Maybe what I felt before wasn't love, but I do know that at this moment, I am so in love with you."

"Good, because I have no intention on letting you go. I really think I am falling in love with you too." Hinata couldn't believe the feeling she had from that sentence, even ecstatic was far too less of a description for that sensation. The only thing that could possibly express her feelings wasn't words. She immediately threw her lips on him and started wildly moving her lips over his and greedily snaked her tongue past his lips in search of his wet muscle. Naruto's eyes widened for a second, but soon eased them shut as he started feeling turned on by the wild make out session.

There was nothing to describe the feeling and passion Hinata was pouring into the kiss, so, he decided it was best to go with the flow and started to suck on her protruding tongue, making her moan in excitement. She parted her lips even further, causing his to do much the same as she pushed deeper, wanting to taste every bit of him and remember it forever. They both realized they were out of control and started to reign themselves in, easing up on the kiss until there was only light sucking on their lips as they kept contact for just a little longer. They pulled apart after their long make out game and Naruto thought she looked so cute, from the blush caused by her arousal, that he took one shorter kiss before Hinata lay back on his shoulder without a single care left in her body other than to be with her love.

"That was unbelievable Hinata." She smiled, but looked so tired now. He realized that she must have stayed up worrying about her gift to him over the past few days, since he knew if he ever did something like that, it would cause many restless nights. "If you're tired, you can sleep. I'll keep a good hold on you, I don't mind."

"You sure?" She asked with a yawn. Naruto smiled and stroked her long velvety hair.

"I don't mind at all as long as I can hold my precious gift." She smiled again and Naruto watched as her eyes drifted close and the smile started relaxing and she fell into sleep in his loving embrace. "Merry Christmas Hinata. I've decided that you can have my love just as you gave me yours. I want to be like this forever."

"Me too." Muttered Hinata, still very much asleep in his arms, but still managed a reply. He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair a few times and soon found himself drifting to sleep as well.

* * *

Naruto was quite surprised when he woke up and found it to be early the next morning. Before he fully took in his surroundings, he found some soft pink lips caressing his as Hinata greeted him for the morning. She broke it off and smiled warmly. 

"Good morning Naruto-kun."

"Morning sweetie." He returned as he started sitting up with Hinata still mostly on him.

"Naruto-kun, I have to go back home today. Do you think you could come with me? I know we have spare rooms and we always start early for a birthday and I really want you to be near me."

"What will your father think?"

"He won't like it, but I don't care." Naruto saw the single look in her eye that stated that it was what she truly wanted, so how could he disappoint her?

"I'll go, just for you, but if they get too arrogant, I can't guarantee my politeness." Hinata smiled and let out a small giggle.

"That is all I could ever ask of you. Just be yourself, I don't want you to be fake for their benefit."

"Sounds like a plan, when do we have to go?"

"I'll make some breakfast first, and then we'll go."

They both got up from the couch and took their turns with the shower and the usual morning actions. Hinata took the first shower so she was currently finishing making their breakfast as Naruto came out refreshed and dressed for the day. They quickly ate their breakfast and cleaned up after themselves before setting out towards the Hyuuga manor. When the building came into view, it looked much more active than the day before. People were hurrying from one end of the yard to the other, stopping just to nod to Hinata and continued on their way. Hinata led Naruto through the halls of the large house and came upon a large common room which contained a few couches.

"This is where I usually sit and relax when I'm not in my room." They both sat down and Hinata moved much closer to him and curled up against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. They were too occupied with each other that they didn't even notice the presence of someone staring at them with rather cold eyes. Hiashi continued watching their interactions, specifically how Naruto was looking at her when he was running his hand over her dark hair.

"Uzumaki, come with me." Hiashi ordered, scaring the hell out of the two of them with his sudden presence causing them to jump up and apart. Naruto looked over at Hinata and she looked slightly saddened but didn't give a reason for him not to go. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards Hiashi. He just silently turned and led him through a few halls before entering a room lined with books. He shut the door after Naruto entered and sat himself at the desk and offered a chair to the blonde.

"Naruto, I know that you know that I don't like you, but it isn't about what you hold, it has always been because you drew the affection of my eldest daughter. You may see me as a harsh person, but a heart of steel is what is needed to keep this clan alive and everyone in it safe. Hinata knows this and because of such, she decided a year ago to renounce her position as heir."

"And why are you telling me this?" Naruto demanded angrily

"Do you love my daughter?" Hiashi asked with a seriousness only seen in dire circumstances

"I think so, but it has only been two days since we've been together."

"I am aware of that, but I have no other choice but to do this now." Taking a deep breath, Hiashi decided to ask a question he never wanted to. "Are you willing to marry her?"

"At some point, but what are you getting at?"

"Hinata didn't realize that by renouncing the position as heir that she entered into a binding contract to be married away exactly one year after her renouncement was requested." Hiashi revealed with a tone of sadness.

"What!? Why wasn't she told!? This is bull shit!"

"Calm down Naruto, I know it isn't fair, but I can only do so much, that is why when the simple wedding for her takes place I ask that you be the one she gets married to." Naruto's eyes went wide, he was actually being asked to marry Hinata, someone he just found had feelings for him not more than three days ago; it was just unbelievable.

"You're kidding? You expect me to marry someone after only two days of being together?"

"From what I saw, there is much admiration and desire you both share for each other. Normal couples don't look at each other the way you two do. I believe there is enough there to have a decent marriage, there was much less fire between Hinata's mother and I when we got married, and we had a great marriage while it lasted."

"I… Why me? Why do you want me to marry her?"

"Just a few simple reasons, she has always cared for you even when I demanded her not to, you will keep her safe from enemies, and most of all, you will keep my daughter in this village. The fall back groom would have taken her into a neighboring country. Even though I may not seem like a loving father, I can't stand the thought of Hinata moving to another country."

"Well, if you love her so much, why were you so cruel to her in her childhood?" Hiashi turned his eyes away from Naruto and stared at the many books lining the shelves.

"That was necessary to see if she could become the head of the clan. She needed to be ruthless and emotionless like her sister, but it was beyond her ability. Hinata wanted to only heal and not harm anyone. When I had her and her sister spar, whenever she would actually hit Hanabi, she would immediately try and heal the injury. This place is not the family for Hinata; we are a rather cold clan and hide our emotions and Hinata needs open affection. Once you are married, I want you to take her from this house and give her everything she has ever wanted out of you and everything we could never give." Hiashi turned back to Naruto and started directly into his eyes. "Hinata needs to be flooded with love, can you give that to her?" Naruto stood motionless for many moments trying to get a handle on exactly what he was saying, but it all came back to how much he was willing to give.

"Alright, I'll do it. I would have liked at least a few months more time together before I make the choice, but it can't be helped. I will marry Hinata and I will love her with all my heart."

"Good, now don't hurt my daughter or I will hunt you down." Hiashi had the makings of a small smile, but it soon became just an illusion and his stoic face returned instantly. "And you can't tell her about what we said; I can't let this get out to the council before it is actually taken care of." Naruto nodded and let himself out of the study and made his way to Hinata again.

"What did he say?" She asked with some fear but mainly interest.

"He wanted to know what my intentions were with you and then let me return." Naruto explained easily, as he hid the true agenda.

"Oh, that is good then. I would have though he would have tried to throw you out." Hinata just hugged him happily and led him back to the couch where they cuddled and talked for pretty much the rest of the day, aside from when some branch members brought them some refreshments periodically throughout the day.

* * *

Night came earlier than expected for the two of them and they had to say their goodnights and head to their rooms for the night. Naruto was led to his room by a random clan member, whom he didn't bother to remember, and flopped backwards onto the bed with a relieved sigh. He couldn't believe that he was going to be married by the end to the next day, and even worse, Hinata didn't even know of it. He was so lost in thought that he never noticed the door opening and closing until her felt a warm body scoot under the covers of the bed and snuggle up to him. 

"Who are you?" Naruto whispered like he was caught off guard. Hinata immediately started to feel frightened and started to second guess if she was in the right room, but it was answered when she heard the familiar chuckling as his strong arms pulled her closer.

"Don't do that Naruto-kun, you scared me." She finally whispered back now that her heart beat was under control.

"Sorry, but I didn't think you belong here. Not that I mind, but your family…"

"I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't care, I've become quite attached to you."

"Fine, you can stay. Goodnight."

"Good night Naruto-kun, I love you."

"Love you too Hinata." She nearly screeched out in joy as she clung to him and gave out a quick passionate kiss.

"You do? I'm so happy."

'Yeah, I'm going to have to love you after we get married, this is just so weird.' He thought. A few moments later he was still thinking about the situation until he looked over and saw Hinata's form in the darkness sleeping on him. "Well, I guess it is a win - win situation." He smiled and rolled Hinata further on him to keep her even closer and let his eyes droop close for the night.

* * *

Naruto woke Hinata in the morning with a long kiss, causing her to groan out cutely as she pulled his head closer with her free hand. Naruto practically had to force her away to end the kiss that she clearly didn't want to have come to a close. 

"Hey, don't pout Hinata, I just wanted to say happy birthday." He closed back in and wiped that pout off her face with another kiss before getting up off the bed.

"You really should sneak back to your room before someone finds out, I'll meet you back in that common room in a few minutes after I get cleaned up." Hinata smiled sweetly and silently left the room and snuck back to hers. Naruto and Hinata both got showered and dressed and met back in the common room.

"Come on Naruto-kun, after we get breakfast, we have to get dressed up for the traditional birthday party. It will be slightly uncomfortable, but I bet you'll enjoy it." She pulled him towards the large dining room and passed through it to another smaller room where they were served their breakfast away from the other clan members. Their time was much too short as the same guy that showed Naruto to his room came back.

"Uzumaki-san, this way please, you need proper attire if you wish to attend." The man bowed to Hinata and proceeded to walk away with Naruto following, leaving Hinata to get herself ready for the party.

It took about 30 minutes of pure torture for Naruto to finally be dressed in a male kimono. It look very similar to what Hiashi always wore, but was a dark grey with black shuriken designs printed on the edges of the fabric. He kind of liked how it looked, but wouldn't want to wear one again. He was soon led to a large room where nearly all the clansmen were in attendance, including Neji. They swapped glances, each one happy to see the other, no matter how it looked to the other. Then he caught a glimpse of the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She was wearing a light lavender multi layered kimono that almost appeared to be white at first glance. It contrasted well with her dark blue, almost black hair which was held up in a fancy hair design, allowing her signature two locks to frame out her face. He was snapped out of his staring when she reached for his hand and he readily gave it to her.

"You look so beautiful Hinata."

"Thank you, you look quite good yourself." She replied with a blush.

"So, what should I expect here?"

"Well, the party doesn't start until father arrives. It is tradition that when a female has a birthday, her father dances with her first, and any potential suitors will get a chance after he bows to her. This is also how we betroth, but it gets confusing when you deal with that part, even I have troubles with it." After her explanation, the room silenced as Hiashi walked into the room and stepped up to his daughter.

"Hinata, I hope you have a very happy birthday. I have a gift for you when we finish." He took her hand and brought her out onto the floor as a cheerful tune started. They went through the traditional dance steps like the years before, but this time Hinata saw something on his face that she hasn't seen since her mother was around, a smile. She couldn't figure out why he was smiling and it got just a little stranger when they slowed down to a stop near Naruto. Her eyes started to widen as her father lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss before he brought Narutos hand up with his free one. Now with his daughter's hand in one hand and Naruto's in the other, he pulled them together and placed her hand into Naruto's.

"For all who have ears, hear this." Hiashi demanded from everyone. "This day, the day of my daughter's 18th birthday; I give Hinata, daughter of Hyuuga Hinoki and Hyuuga Hiashi to Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato – our fourth Hokage, into marriage. By our tradition it has been done and can't be revoked." Hinata stood on week knees and looked to Naruto, who wasn't looking much better after the announcement of who his parents were.

"Did y-you know about this?" Hinata asked astonishingly.

"Yes, that is what Hiashi talked to me about yesterday. He was forced to give you away today and he was much happier to give you to me than to someone from out of the country." Naruto whispered back to her, but clearly was surprised on his own account.

"So you don't mind?" She asked, knowing it was quite fast.

"Not at all Hinata, I love you, and I know my love will continue to grow when I am with you. It may not be ideal, but I'll take you now and forever." Hinata smiled and threw herself into a hug with her father.

"Thank you for allowing this."

"It is what you really wanted anyways. I hope you enjoy your gift Hinata; I give you someone to give you love like I could never give. If cultivated correctly, it could be a gift that keeps on giving…" Hinata had tears in her eyes as she let her father go and stepped closer to Naruto to be by his side forever. They were now technically married, sharing a bond that should never be broken. But the best of all, they now both have each other; and that is truly a gift that keeps giving…..

* * *

Chapter 3 (Rated M – Turn Back Now, Catch my drift?)

* * *

Naruto and Hinata were laughing and enjoying the party nothing was running through their minds but each other and having fun, but that was about to change when they were approached at the end of the festivities. 

"This has to be the worst thing I have ever had to do." Hiashi started as he looked slightly pained by what he was going to tell them. "Your marriage needs to be… well… consummated tonight for everything to be valid." Hiashi forced a single key on a key ring into Naruto's hand and quickly disappeared out of the room leaving Naruto and Hinata frightened beyond anything; it was just way too soon for this.

"Great, now there is something else to throw into the works. So, what does this key go to?" Naruto finally asked, letting curiosity influence him.

"I'll show you, come on Naruto-kun." Hinata turned red and pulled him down a series of corridors until they exited out of the back of the manor and towards a small little building just outside a vast garden with a narrow brick trail leading through it. She pulled the key out of Naruto's clenched hand and let them into the door, shutting and locking it behind her. She flipped on the lights and smiled seeing the single room. It was roughly 12'x12' and had a small fireplace on the center of one of the walls.

"This is nice, but there isn't any furniture here."

"I know, that is how it was designed. Technically it was made for secret meetings, but it works to keep prying eyes out and anything we say inside." She walked over to the fireplace and lit the fire easily. She warmed her hands by the crackling fire and smiled. She came back to Naruto's side and pulled him into a hug.

"I know it would have been better to have taken it slowly, but we are here now, and I am fully willing to give myself to you as your wife. Is my husband willing to take me?" Hinata felt that it was a stupid question and pulled him in front of the fireplace. She kneeled on the soft blanket that was laid out for them and pulled him down so they were now facing each other, kneeling and trading gazes into their eyes.

"So how do we do this?" Hinata giggled and turned a deeper red.

"I wasn't really told the mechanics of it, but I think finding out is part of the fun. Remember how you felt when we were kissing deeply on your couch?" Naruto looked excited at the thought of that moment and Hinata felt the excitement as well. "I think we should just go there again, but not pull back this time and see what happens." Hinata slowly lunged forward and tackled him to the floor and kissed him gently before pulling back. She got the exact reaction she wanted when He pulled her back and held her head tight against his lips and continued deeper as his tongue started searching the opening of their lips. She greedily made contact and started to suck on his tongue while moaning gently at the pleasure she was receiving. All of the sudden, she felt Naruto's hand release her head and start searching her clothing and soon had the tie off the outfit causing the fabric to start unwrapping after it was released. His roughened skin felt like heaven to her as they slid over her skin and started pushing off her clothing. He pushed her out of the kiss and looked at her disappointed face.

"Why did you stop? I was enjoying everything." He just smiled and reached out and gently took hold of her soft globes of flesh accentuated by the darkened skin of the more sensitive areas. She looked down and saw his hands were holding her naked breasts and smiled happily. He brushed his thumbs across her stiffening nipples and loved the feel of her supple skin as he squeezed them a little.

"I guess you can say I wanted to touch something a bit more interesting for me." He pulled on his new handles and met Hinata's lips in another deep make out session as he massaged her breasts reveling in the squeaks and moans coming from the dark haired beauty. Naruto flipped Hinata onto her back and pinned her arms above her head as he stared at her chest below him as it heaved up and down with her ragged breathing. He kissed her lightly and let up as he tugged more of her kimono off.

"Wait." Naruto stopped and looked into her sparkling eyes, waiting for what she was going to say. "You're getting too far ahead." He looked slightly confused until she reached up and released the single tie on his garment and smiled as it completely slipped off his body. Hinata smiled seductively as she looked at his muscular body. She let out a happy giggle and looked at the bulge in his boxers and threw out her reservations and quickly yanked them down, releasing his erect member into the air. He smiled lovingly at her and threw his boxers across the room with his other clothing and crawled back up to Hinata.

"I guess you are behind now." Naruto moved in to finish removing her clothes when she wrapped her small hand around his throbbing shaft.

"It is so soft, yet hard." Hinata muttered in astonishment as she rubbed her hand down the underside of it and fondled the excess of flesh at the base of it before gliding back up. Naruto's eyes closed as he felt her fondling his equipment, but was being interrupted from his previous task. He didn't try to stop her as she kept playing with her new found interest and just managed to get her clothing off completely, revealing that she wasn't wearing any underwear the entire time. He threw her clothes to the side of the room with his and returned his attention to the completely naked girl in front of him.

"So, should we try this?" He asked patiently. She looked up from where her attention was and blushed at his question. She pulled him down on top of her and felt his firm chest press against her breasts and kissed him deeply.

"Let's try."

"Huh, but don't we need protection?" Naruto questioned.

"Hai, but we aren't in a normal situation. We are both virgins so there are no diseases to worry about and I'll be damned if I let my first time be with a piece of rubber in my way. If we get pregnant, then we'll have a child, simple as that." Secretly he kind of like the idea of impregnating her, but wanted more time to figure things out, but if it happens, it'll happen. He kissed her once more and was surprised as his dick made contact with something so soft there wasn't a way to describe it.

"Is this…?" He started as he let his prick glide on the soft flesh.

"Yes, push it in." He added pressure to the contact made and felt her flesh start to conform to his intrusion. After adding a little more, her felt the head of his member pop into her woman hood as she gave out a very loud yelp.

"Itai, it hurts!" Naruto tried to slow down, but his body seemed to move on its own and kept pushing it in deeper despite the cries of pain from his new wife. Finally he reached the end of his length and was able to wait for Hinata to recover.

"Are you ok?" He asked, hoping she didn't get hurt too bad.

"I… I should be fine. It just hurt really bad."

"I'm sorry, do you think I can start moving again, you are so warm and tight I don't know how much longer I can wait." She tried to push a smile to the surface but just nodded instead. He started his way out and reached about half way before driving it back in slowly. He picked up some more speed, but just got more resistance and grunts from Hinata as he would push it in. He slowly eased it out of her and kissed her once more.

"Why did you stop?" She asked. It hurt to take every motion he put her through, but to her it was worth it if it could please him and keep them together.

"You aren't ready for it." He backed up and actually got a good look at her pussy for the first time and just stared, admiring the beauty of the tight folds of sensitive flesh hidden between her legs. "I guess I didn't play with you enough for you to find it enjoyable yet." He commented as he took in the sight.

Hinata was red all over from how he was talking to her, but she loved every minute of it and it even seemed to make her feel warmer inside. He almost laid on top of her as he went in for another passionate kiss. As he broke off, he gently held her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged on it delicately to give just the slightest sensation that seemed to get interpreted as pleasure from the quiet moans she released. Her lip slipped out of his mouth as he set his sights else where. Immediately he buried his face into her sensitive neck flesh and started sucking and nipping her skin. Occasionally he would move his hips while sucking her neck letting Hinata feel his continuing stiffness as it ran across her leg, even dampening her skin with a thin lubricating fluid. She let out a loud, long sigh as he let her neck go and started licking her ear.

"I love you Hinata." He breathed into her ear as he slid down her delicate body. He grabbed one breast in each hand and started to lightly massage and kneed the doughy mounds taking one hand away he admired the beauty of another part women keep hidden.

"I love how your skin is darker among all your supple creamy skin." He whispered before he brought his tongue downward and licked the tip of her nipple. He saw her jerk slightly from the contact and knew she wanted more of that action. Obliging eagerly, he ran his tongue on her sensitive skin, completely dampening her areola. With one final lick to her nipple, he drew it into his mouth and started suckling on her tit with gentle pressure at first until Hinata's gasps and mewling grew as he increased the vacuum on her skin. Ever so softly, he bit her nipple causing some slight pain, but Hinata let out a pleasurable gasp, meaning she didn't mind the slight discomfort. Her nipple slid out of his mouth as he went to do the same to the other one while he gently rolled her wet nipple between his fingers and giving it a light squeeze during the suckling of the opposite one. Hinata was slightly disappointed as he let go of her breasts and started sliding down her body until he was just a few inches from a part of her natural look that seemed to gather the lustiest feelings from him.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" She asked as she saw him edge closer to her slit.

"Just an experiment." He replied as he kissed her hairless pelvic region as started dragging his tongue lower and closer to her opening.

"Naruto-kun, don't…" She forgot what she was going to say when she let out a loud screech as his tongue contacted her dense nub. He ran his tongue around her entire opening, tasting each layer of skin held there and realized that even though it was a weird taste, it seemed to raise his arousal even more, something he felt was nearly impossible. He easily found that she would scream and moan the most when he would run across the tiniest of protrusions at the top of her skin layers, so it was a no brainer to pay special attention there. Hinata started to move around unpredictably as she grabbed at the blanket and kept flailing around, letting out moans and squeals as he remained attached between her legs, drawing figure 8's across her sensitive nub. Suddenly her back arched and her body stiffened as more pleasing sounds escaped her mouth.

Hinata couldn't describe that moment, it was a feeling that just always seemed to be there, but was never released. It was a pleasure so powerful that she couldn't control the actions of her breathing or her body that it acted on its own. It was a stimulation that she knew could only be brought by her love, and now husband. It was never mentioned what the feeling could have been like, so there was nothing tempting her to touch herself, she didn't even know that such sensations could come from the same area as normal daily functions, but now she knew exactly what it felt like as she experienced her first orgasm of her life. That one single moment during her orgasm seemed to last forever until it started to fade for a slight moment until she felt the sensation start to build more rapidly than the last from her lovers unrelenting tonguing. She felt herself tense once more as another pleasurable wave ran across her body until she fell hard to the ground, panting from the experience. Naruto lifted his head up from pleasuring her and smiled at her dazed eyes and blushing cheeks. It wasn't her normal blush, but one strictly different from experiencing something special.

"That was amazing." She sighed out as she rolled onto her hands and knees and slowly crawled to him. She pushed him onto his back and moved closer to his shaft. "Well, if you can do it…" She left it open as she grabbed him firmly and ran her tongue across the tip, tasting a little of the clear fluid that leaked out. Deciding it didn't taste appalling, she brought her lips over the head of it and started sucking and swirling her tongue around the circumference. She began to work more of the length into her mouth, but nearly choked on it when Naruto grabbed her hips firmly and placed her on top of him with a leg on each side of his head. At first she didn't know what was being done as she withdrew his prick from her wet mouth, but when she felt his tongue burry into her opening, she screamed loudly and stuck nearly his entire length deep into her mouth. Hinata couldn't believe how quick her third climax of the night was building inside her and decided to remove him from her mouth just incase the orgasm caused her teeth to clench, she wanted to be sure she'd get more of this in the future. She held tightly to his staff as it felt like an inferno exploded within her as the climax hit, causing her body to shudder as it started waning. She lied there panting far a few seconds before she rolled off of him with a very satisfied smile.

"I think we can try again." She muttered, still in a slight daze. Naruto nodded happily, this was what he was waiting for after he got a feel of being inside her earlier in the night. He crawled around until he was kneeling between her legs. Reaching out, he grasped her hips tightly and lifted her lower portion of her body off the floor. Instead of him pushing into her, her actually pulled her over him and impaled her on his shaft.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata moaned out before he started any movement.

"Yeah, does it still hurt?" She shook her head rapidly

"No, I just wanted to say I love you and also to say quit wasting time and screw me already." Naruto chuckled lightly as he withdrew some and thrust back deep into her. A few more movement like that and Hinata was squealing uncontrollably with each movement. He slowly lowered her to the floor as he lowered himself on top of her and continued the slow and steady actions since he wanted the sex to last as long as possible. He wrapped his arms tightly around his wife and rolled onto his back, leaving Hinata on top of him. She sat up a bit and placed her hands on his chest to help keep her mostly upright as she started pumping his length into her with the rocking of her hips. Naruto remained mesmerized as her large mounds were bouncing and bumping around with her movements and he just had to have one. He reached out and pulled her closer until he was close enough to get a nipple into his mouth. He sucked wildly as he started to make up for Hinata's lack of movement by thrusting his hips in time with her movements.

Suddenly Hinata's eyes widened as she felt a strange sensation from one of the actions and realized there was another point she could get pleasure from that was inside her and not gotten only from bumping and grinding her pelvis into his. She pulled her tit away from Naruto and leaned back while supporting her weight over his legs. She started feeling it again, but the new position was tiring out her arms. Without throwing off their rhythm much, she turned around with her back facing Naruto and kept taking his full length on each pass wanting more of the feelings and sensations from it. She leaned back again in search of that special spot when she felt hand come from behind and grab her breasts, dragging her back firmly onto his chest. The motions stopped for a moment as he kneaded her mounds and started sucking on her neck flesh, But when they started again, Hinata felt what she wanted. She was content to lay there giving forth little effort as her eyes were held shut from the pleasure as she was moaning almost constantly except for the loud gasps every time he would drive his tool into her.

"Hinata, could you lift your hips just a little bit? I'm getting close and need a little more room."

"So am I, it feels so good." She placed her feet firmly on the floor and lifted some weight off of Naruto's pelvis and arched her back so he could drive in deeper. The slow and steady pace was thrown out the window as they passed the want to make it last for favor of more pleasure. He started pounding into her quicker and deeper while she started to grind with his movements.

"Oh, it sooo gooood, more, faster!" Hinata kept gyrating her hips to get the most out of the deep thrusts. She suddenly fell uncontrollably onto Naruto as her muscles stopped working properly and tensed up signifying her impending climax. It poured over her in massive amounts, more intense than any other orgasm before, she screamed and moaned and wanted to claw at anything. In the midst of the moment, she felt a hard thrust into her and felt a strange sensation inside her as he filled her cavern with his sexual fluids. They both lay there panting, feeling exhausted from the intense sex. Naruto went to push Hinata off of him, but she only sat up and twisted around to face him.

"It still feels good with you inside me, let's keep it like that." She muttered as she lay her sweaty body back on his and connected her lips to his. The affectionate kiss caused an involuntary thrust into her, causing her to sigh and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Let's do it again tomorrow Naruto-kun." He smiled as her glittering eyes closed and the sound of steady breathing came.

"You are way too good to me." He whispered back as he pushed her long sweaty, messy hair out of his face. He wanted to turn the lights off, but didn't want to wake Hinata when suddenly the lights went out by themselves. "That was weird…" He decided but didn't care as he let himself fall to the draw of sleep.

You know, if those two aren't careful… They may be having another gift that keeps giving... in a few months….

* * *

(End) 

Yo, I know many people were probably feeling a little left out since Uyoku Myou wont have any citrus action for quite some time, so you slightly perverted people got your fix now. Also I'd like to note something a reviewer once said. "Everyone has an Ero-Sennin in them, some just have a Baa-chan to keep him in line"

That is it for now….Later


	5. Naruto's Impromptu Investigation (Main)

**Naruto's Impromptu Investigation**

Like all the stories posted before me state: I don't own nor claim any ownership of the characters or settings depicted within my creation below, all these belong to their original creators.

**Main Story **

**(3 different endings)**

* * *

It was just one of those days; the air was damp, the wind was dead. There seemed to be no light, it was just dark and grey. A few small droplets fell from the heavens, streaking down the windows of a small stucco covered shop eliciting a feeling of sadness, like even the buildings were crying. The tears streaked down the glass and rested on the window sill darkening the yet unfinished wood. An eerie silence suddenly fell over the village, followed by panicked screaming.

The gravel crunched loudly while I ran. I ran past the villagers, past the shops, dodging in and out of the scattering people. My breath was heavy and ragged from running, my brow dripping with sweat and the falling rain, but still I ran. My legs started to ache from the running, my blood pulsing adrenaline through my body, yet still I ran. I ran faster; something really didn't feel right, I ran faster. Despite the heat radiating from by body, aside from the pain welling up in my lungs, I pushed faster still. So fast now that there was no more dodging, I was pushing people to the side, not even looking back as they crashed into planters and other villagers. I knew I just had to run; run faster and faster.

I skidded around the corner, dust spiraling off from my sandals. My powerful strides were kicking up rocks in an undetermined direction. It didn't matter, nothing around me did except for the scene in front of me. A series of shinobi, some Anbu, others not, landed, blocking my path, but still I saw it. My body grew cold. The amount of heat I was giving off seemed to rival that of Amaterasu, but I felt chilled. So cold that I could feel shivers reverberating through my body. There was just no way… I thought it was some trick, but my body knew better as it stiffened. It was telling me to stay away. That I didn't want to see what was ahead. It was trying to protect me… It failed.

My breath sounded like that of an old man in ICU. Rough and raspy I exhaled; quickly and noisily. I raised my shaky hand and persuaded one of the shinobi to stand aside. He glanced at me and I saw it. His eyes told me not to come. They begged and pleaded, silently trying to scream at me; to tell me to turn back and not come closer. His body betrayed his eyes as he stepped to the right, letting me by. A large Anbu crouched down before me, blocking out everything except for the small sandal covered feet, lying crumpled together. My heart restarted with a heavy thump, causing my breath to stick in my throat. Do not move. My body warned me again. My consciousness knew it, my body knew it, but I refused.

I shuffled closer… closer… I saw more of the small body around the coat of the Anbu through the dripping of perspiration from my forehead. My bright orange sleeve was dulled from wiping at the sweat, but it didn't matter as I wiped some more. Closer… closer… Nudging myself past the side of the Anbu, I confirmed what my body was telling me to avoid, what my mind didn't want me to see, and what my eyes told me that they already saw. The small body was encircled by unnatural, rust colored, muddy gravel soaked from the lifeless person face down. The long dark inky blue hair was strewn carelessly around the sides of her face. All I could think of was a similar scene from a few months before…

* * *

I was laying, face down, with dark poles jammed through the joints of my extremities, holding me to the ground and sapping my strength. The man known as Pain stood above me, looking down past the many piercings on the bridge of his nose at my helpless form. He raised another sharpened pole above him, aiming for a vital area, when a thunderous strike landed to my left, between me and the now receding Pain. A cloud of dust billowed in all directions, subsiding, revealing traces of dark blue, beige and lavender. There stood someone who was shy and weird, always turning away from me whenever I looked at her. She stood in front of the person that killed the Legendary Jiraiya, my teacher for 3 years, without a single sign of fear. She didn't know who or even what she was blocking.

"You can't fight him, you're no match." She just stared at the man in front of her, eyes glaring in his direction.

"I know; I'm just being selfish."

I couldn't believe what she was saying. To knowingly stand in front of a person who could kill her in an instant, I just couldn't fathom it. She struck out at Pain with amazing ferocity, but like I feared, she didn't have a foot to stand on. She was struck, body flailing backwards towards me. She twisted and turned her body and landed gracefully on her feet next to my helpless body where she struck at the large poles, shattering them in an attempt to free my body. I begged for her to go and she just looked at me with the slightest of smiles.

"This time, I will protect you because… I love you." My mind was boggled. She grew up in the same village I had, hearing the same hurtful things directed at me as the other villagers. I was hyper, over confident, and many times, dense, so… why? I was torn. Torn because I was happy that someone saw me as a person; torn because I also realized that at the same moment I gained something, I was going to lose it as well. I struggled against my restraints, pushing all my strength I had into breaking free. I didn't budge.

I watched as she took each violent strike from Pain. He had single handedly annihilated our entire village, buildings and all. She was taking those same strikes with her petite body. I wanted to help, I had to get to her. She struck the ground again with an eerie thud, this time she didn't get up. I could only watch in horror as that large, black, sharpened, rod, which was meant for me, pierced her chest. Her life's all important fluid seeping into the ground, staining the gravel a rusty color. I lost it. Without even a thought, I released the nine tailed demon fox caged within me. I didn't care the cost; it just didn't matter anymore… I blacked out. When I returned to consciousness, I was relieved to hear that she didn't die; that I didn't lose someone who had the capacity to see past my flaws into the person I am underneath. It was a great feeling.

* * *

I fought constant battles after this and didn't get to reflect on anything until now, when I saw that similar picture laid out before me. How I wished that I had talked with her about it. Such a sweet person never got a reply even though she, of all people, deserved one the most. Although it was similar to the other scene, this time, I knew she wasn't going to get up. Her arm was set down after the Anbu checked for a pulse. He shook his head in response to his findings. He rolled the body on her side, revealing the handle of the kunai buried deep in her chest and her fair skinned face dirtied by the stained gravel. A hot rain fell and streaked down my cheeks while I looked on in disbelief, except that particular rain was salty and was only falling for me. My heart never ached so badly, not even after being rejected countless times; this was different.

There was a piece of paper crumpled up in the hand, which her body covered. That Anbu took the reddish tinted paper and after a quick read, he let the body come back to a rest as she was found.

"Suicide note." He muttered out loud to the surrounding ninja.

I looked at her lifeless body and couldn't get those words to sink in. I wanted to destroy the life of whoever caused this pain to exist in my heart, but there was no way I could destroy them now. I continued to take in the scene before me. I didn't want to see it, but for her sake I had to remember everything so I wouldn't ever forget the girl who saved my life.

Her lavender jacket was slowly turning red the longer she lay in that mess. It was hard to stomach, but I still looked on. I don't really know what it was, whether it was a change in lighting, or just a blur in my water soaked vision, but there was something I just noticed; sawdust. There was sawdust on her stained jacket and some black powder on her pants. I thought it to be strange, but I wasn't sure since my nature was to be oblivious to those kinds of details, something I decided was time to correct. I touched the black powder and ground it between my fingers. The fine powder stained my fingers; charcoal?

She was quickly covered with a black cloth when I backed away to think about the strange substances. Before I could dwell on them too long, two medics showed up with a stretcher to take her away. They rolled her body onto the apparatus, covering her once more, and took off for the hospital. I just stared at the discolored, rock-strewn, pathway and clutched my fist over my heart. I knew she was gone and I could do nothing; I was powerless. I glanced back at the gritty blackness of my fingers and had only one thought… It didn't have to be suicide, did it?

Everyone avoided looking at me when I made my way from the remnants of the scene. I don't know if they were aware of what I felt, but I was glad they made way for me because had anyone said a word, it may have resulted in a rearranged face. A small group of clean up specialists arrived to clean the road at the moment I turned away. I had troubles holding back my tears knowing that they were sweeping up the last of that wonderful little woman and I headed to the Hokage tower with just the tiniest bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, she didn't kill herself.

I approached the gate to the Hokage's residence, where the Hokage tower stands above Konoha. The long winding defensive wall was already getting covered in ivy while it crawled and reached for the sky, hiding the natural light grey concrete from view. I approached the heavy wooden gate, which seemed to slide open, anticipating my arrival. It groaned out of reluctance while sliding to the side, just enough to let me by. I knew it would have been faster to grind down the overhead lines, yet I just wasn't in the mood, that was reserved for the good days.

It always amazed me how people refuse change. Our village was leveled to the ground and when rebuilt, everything looked the same as it was. Before me stood the large round building with two smaller ones connected to either side on the back. The center one still remained donning its three tiered stories just as the smaller remained at two stories. Of course it was freshly slathered with the thick, bright red paint covered by tan roofing separating the tiers. The top still remained open to look out across the village and was happily dressed with the large Kanji for fire across its outfacing wall.

I stepped into the main floor of the large building, the Hokage Tower, and I could still smell the faint scent of solvents from the repainting and fresh coating on the floors. It slightly burned the back of my throat, but it was nothing compared to the suffering I was going through. Who would have thought that I would feel so horrible? Not even the passing of my old mentor Jiraiya brought this feeling. Maybe even without her saying anything, I had invested my emotions in her. The reasoning really didn't matter at this point anyways, so I just scaled the slick steps, upwards to Tsunade's office. Left, right, another left; it was a path I have traveled many times prior but it just seemed like it took forever this time.

I pushed past the door and entered the large office. Not really a moment passed before I felt strong arms cling to me tightly. Her long blonde hair tickled my cheek and I could smell the faint scent of sake whirling around her with the jasmine of her perfume. Even though she was a mother like figure to me, I couldn't figure out why the Hokage, the leader of Konoha, would be hugging me in this manner. It was confusing until I looked down at her shoulder. Her light green medic robe was darkened and spotted from the wetness raining down on it. How long had these tears been falling? I don't know how she knew I needed that embrace to gather myself, but it worked wonders.

"Feeling better Naruto?" She asked while letting me go from her grasp. I sniffled and wiped my face on my sleeve. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, for crying out loud, this isn't me. I don't get reduced to tears over something like this. I tried grinning like I usually do, but it felt fake. So fake in fact that even someone who didn't know me would know that it was a load of crap. I let the smile drop, it just wasn't the time.

"A little."

"Good. I know it is a shock to us all, but there is no helping the fact that Hinata is gone." This time she was right. Actually I think she was always right, but you'll never catch me admitting to it.

"I know, but how sure are you that it was suicide? I just don't see her doing that this late in the game. If she didn't want to live, she would have easily died during the chuunin exams when that jack ass cousin of hers tried to get rid of her."

"We're sure; it's her handwriting after all."

"What did it say?" The Hokage looked away from me, and I instantly knew that she wasn't going to tell me everything.

"Just that she was sorry for the trouble of having to clean up after her death." That sounded a lot like the Hinata I knew; apologizing for troubling others when we should be apologizing to her for letting her die. Even though it sounded like her, I still felt we were missing something.

"Was there anything, a tiny piece of hair that would say otherwise?"

"No, a little sawdust and charcoal dust, but with the construction in the village and at the Hyuuga's, that would be normal."

"But…" I was silenced quickly by her glare. I usually wasn't affected by how she looked at me, but this time she was both silently begging me and ordering me to stop my train of thought.

"Take some time off, get a little rest and settle down."

"Yeah, I guess." I walked out of her office and only two words rang in my mind in a scoffing tone… 'Yeah Right.' I immediately started crossing the whole of Konoha with only one destination… a certain deer farm on the outskirts of town.

* * *

It didn't take too long before I found myself stepping over the wire fence surrounding the deer farm. Of course the fence wasn't there to keep the deer in, but to warn others that they were entering a protected area. Very few people ventured out here which made it the perfect place to bury Hidan in pieces, holding back his immortality. Had it been another day, I would have enjoyed finding a peaceful open area and relax in the grass with Shikamaru and Choji, but it was definitely not the day. I had only been in this forest once before with Shikamaru when we were younger. It was one of the few places I could go where they wouldn't call me demon. It was a place that was fond in my memories.

When I stepped out of the heavily wooded forest, into the large grassy field, I could see the famous Nara deer. Their antlers were a special ingredient for many medicines used in Konoha. The large animals were beautiful creatures, grazing in the fields among the grasses. I was engrossed with watching the elegant creatures and nearly missed the slight movement of spiky brown hair. It was a little known fact that if you wanted to talk with Shikamaru seriously, it either had to be done playing shogi or while watching the clouds. I stretched out next to him and relaxed as best as I could into the soft grass.

"It was very troublesome… Sorry." I was really starting to wonder how everyone seemed to know what my heart was feeling before even I did. We sat for what seemed like a moment of silence for Hinata before the silence was broken.

"If there is something you need my help with, just ask. If you're here to watch the clouds, they are a little too thick today, but you're free to stay."

"How do I investigate a murder?" He finally opened open his eyes and looked me dead on. He sighed after a moment and stared off at the sky.

"You really intend to try?" He ruffled his hair in frustration. "Ahhh, of course you do; you're Naruto."

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me until you've found your answer." I just nodded and stared at the waning sky as it started darkening. "You won't be able to handle a full in-depth investigation on your own, but then again you are only after results so just the basics should suffice. You will need to keep record of your investigation in a notebook; a good investigator can forget detail easily, so it should be doubly important for you. You will then need to record clues, anything out of the ordinary no matter how trivial. While gathering evidence you will have to add suspects, ones with motive. Follow wherever your clues lead and question all your suspects. This can lead you to more clues and more suspects in a never ending cycle. If you followed the right clues and the right suspects, you should come up with your answer; if you messed up somewhere you will reach a dead end or an infinite loop. That's the basics."

"So a person with motive would be like Neji when he wanted to kill her in the chuunin exams and a clue could be the sawdust on her jacket and the charcoal soot on her pants." For the second time in the conversation, Shikamaru actually looked at me.

"You just need a notebook now." I stayed still for a couple minutes, completely silent. I mulled over everything in my mind while sitting. I usually don't think things through like this, but I knew the investigation would take a level of thinking that I would usually leave to others but in the current situation, no one else will. Once my mind was set, I left the Nara farm without a word, there was no going back for me now.

The sky was almost black as I stepped back into the main portion of the village. It was cooling off pretty quickly and I knew it was time to head home. Emotionally, I was spent and I needed sleep before I started to tackle my investigation. I walked up the stairs to my small house.

Since the reconstruction of Konoha, I finally got to live in a place better than my old apartment. When I returned from defeating Pain, the villagers celebrated my victory and everyone started noticing how I was used to living. For once in my life people were demanding the best for me, they even called me a hero. Even though I had wanted this since I grew up as the demon kid, I still had trouble accepting this reality. I finally caved to their desires but demanded they keep my new residence smaller since I never could keep things completely clean.

Opening the door I stepped into my house, pushed a few boxes of junk I've accumulated to the side and kicked off my shoes. The slippery wood floors were feeling chilled under the influence of the cool night air. Crossing through the open main room, I threw my jacket onto the kitchen counter and opened the fridge. I really don't know why, since there was usually very little ever in there. Honestly this house is too much for a single guy like me, but I was always hoping it wouldn't remain that way for too long. Unfortunately when that thought hit me, the heavy loss weighed me down. Losing her was unexpectedly the worst event in my life. Had I known of this feeling, I would have done my best to talk with her more.

I went back to the boxes of junk and dug through one and pulled out the small notebook I received from Sakura. She gave me the notebook a while ago after I messed up the details of a mission. She was hoping that I would write down those details so I could look them up when needed. I never used it because I remembered something Jiraiya told me on my training trip. At one point during his writing he mentioned that notebooks were easy to steal and were the easiest way to gain intel on people without the use of interrogation techniques. Since that day I swore to never use a notebook for missions. I took the leather bound book and headed to my room at the back of the house. Sitting on my bed, I started writing down things preventing my fatigue from carrying me off to sleep

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: ****************************** Suspects:

Sawdust **************************** Hyuuga Clan

Charcoal dust

* * *

When I woke the next morning, still wearing most of my clothes, I reviewed my notebook. My clues weren't anything groundbreaking. Like Tsunade had said, they were common during out rebuild process. Now the suspects are a little bit of a stretch right now, but I know that the clan is retarded. First you have Neji, he was Hinata's older cousin who she fought in the chuunin exam. At first I thought it would be awkward to fight with a member of your family, but Neji had no issues at all and set out to systematically degrade and destroy her, even to the point of beating her to the point that her life was threatened. As it turned out, he was pissed about how the clan was run and since she was on in the main branch of the family, he took out his frustrations on her. This all had to do with the loss of his father Hizashi.

When Hinata was a little girl, she was abducted by ninja from Kumogakure, the village hidden in the Cloud, so they could experiment with the Hyuuga's special eyes. When Hiashi, Hinata's father, learned of this, he did what any father would; he found the bastard and killed him. Unfortunately this abduction happened during a political summit and Kumo demanded compensation for their dead ninja after Hinata's abduction couldn't be proven. The compensation would be Hiashi's life. Now this is where this got weird. Hizashi, Neji's father and Hiashi's twin, volunteered for the role to allow his brother and the clan head to continue life, but they never told anyone about it. This resulted in Neji feeling shorted by the clan and he desired retribution.

Although Hiashi seemed like a loving father, he was obsessed with strength and fighting prowess. This was something Hinata lacked because she didn't have confidence and soon became shunned by the clan. As a result she was pushed off onto the ninja academy while he trained Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister.

All this led me to suspect someone in the Hyuuga Clan, they definitely had the motive. To me it didn't matter if someone personally killed her or drove her insane. I knew they were the first people I needed to talk to, and the most talkative in this situation would be Neji.

Looking through my notebook I was forced to be reminded that all the events of the past day actually happened. Before I completely lost myself in sorrow over not reacting to her feelings prior to her death, I jumped into the shower and cranked the water on as hot as possible to trick myself into thinking it was just the water splashing down on my face.

The steam was still pouring out from the bathroom after I had dressed for the day. I walked into the kitchen but still didn't feel like eating. I know that I need to eat something, but I was still feeling sick from yesterday. I took a step outside, and quickly shielded my eyes from the bright onslaught of light. The sky was clear and the air was crisp. I stepped back into the house and grabbed my black jacket, leaving my usual orange one on the counter. I decided that until I solved this death, I wouldn't wear that thing again.

Scratch, scratch, crunch. The gravel scraped and crackled under the soles of my sandals. I walked aimlessly through the village, listening to only my footsteps striking the ground. I had no idea where to find Neji and just started looking around the village. Crack! I guess I wasn't paying any attention to where I was walking since now there was a smashed pot, dirt and yellow flowers in a pile on the ground.

"Hey jack ass, you break it you…"

"Nice to see you too, Ino."

Apparently I had stumbled upon the Yamanaka flower shop. The thin long haired blonde looked at me with painful eyes once she recognized who it was that knocked off the plant. This was actually a good place to start since all the gossip in town usually runs through the flower shop, you can even find out information on ninja there since Inoichi, Ino's father, was also part of the intelligence team. I didn't really know her all that well, but aside from the times in the academy, she would help if I needed it.

"You're looking like you're surviving"

"Not going to lie, it's been rough, I hate losing a friend."

"Friend… Idiot." I was starting to wonder if there was some inside information that no one was telling me about or maybe I already knew and didn't want to face it. "You know, Sakura was really pissed when she heard Hinata confessed. I think she was jealous, had it really bad too. One time when I brought it up, she yelled some crazy stuff about her not even knowing you and then she smashed her fist into the ground, destroying the park. I wish Tsunade never taught her that monstrous strength thing."

I thought about what she said… Sakura being crazy and jealous. I know it isn't unusual for her, but then again she did threaten the lives of other girls when she was in Sasuke fangirl mode in academy. I'll have to talk to her about that.

"Hey, do you know where Neji is?" I asked. It didn't go along with her story, but I've gotten enough information to think about for now and needed to get back on track.

" I think he was training to day at #21."

"Thanks Ino, and sorry about the plant."

Information from Ino is a difficult situation. Many times the information is purposefully falsified if that was what the intelligence team decided, so you have to leave the validity of it to your own judgment. Since I've never been one for deep thinking, I'll just investigate each and every lead I can and hope I learn enough to figure it out.

* * *

Training ground #21 was a well secluded training grounds in the newest section of town. When Konoha was rebuilt they decided to expand one side of it to add more secret raining areas where any ninja could hone their techniques in private. It was a good change since when I started as a genin there were few places I could train in peace. Not too sure how it would hold up with my wind manipulation training, but that did destroy a whole field.

"Yes, Yes! Do it harder! Faster! Harder! That's it!" Yelled a couple of voices amongst the slapping and thumping.

The sounds were as disturbing as ever. I could remember the first time Jiraiya heard that noise. He took off with a perverted grin and his notebook. He was always searching for new material for his sexual oriented books. When he came back, the look of his face was priceless. His jaw was dropped and tears poured down his cheeks. He was only a shell of a man after seeing Gai and Lee train in their green spandex, oblivious to the world.

After passing Lee's training grounds, it was only a few more steps before reaching #21. The sun was high overhead and it was starting to get hot out. I took my jacket off and flipped it over my shoulder. The warm breeze felt good against my bare arms, sun peeking through the waving branches of foliage above. Up to the right of the narrow path was training ground #21. I started seeing the outline of Neji as I approached. He was just smashing through another target with his family's special taijutsu when he saw me approach from behind.

Even though I knew Hinata from the academy, I was still surprised to find out just how good the Hyuuga eyes were. When she fought Neji in the chuunin tournament, I found it amazing that the byakugan, when active, was capable of seeing nearly 360 degrees around them and when honed enough, they can actually see the location where chakra exits the body. I even got to experience firsthand how they can block off these points to prevent a person from using jutsu.

"Naruto." He greeted in his usually un-talkative way. He was almost as much as an introvert as Shino.

"Hey Neji, I needed to ask some questions about the clan."

"Does this have anything to do with Hinata?" Neji wiped his face off with a towel and sat on the dark green grass, shaded under a large tree.

"Kind of…"

"Honestly… I'm glad that she's gone." For the first time in ages I wanted to punch him. Much like the feeling I had when he beat down Hinata.

"Not, that I mean it that way… It's just that she will no longer have to worry about who become the next heir." Now I didn't know that much about clan business, but I knew that the Hyuuga were unusually protective about their main branch of the clan.

"How do they choose?"

"Most of the time it will be the oldest, then the younger will enter the side branch after the current one steps down or can't continue their duties."

"And when 'most of the time' doesn't happen?"

"Like currently… If the oldest was deemed incompetent, they will go with the next in line. When they were younger, Hanabi excelled as a fighter and Hinata's ability was less than subpar. That was when Hiashi sent her away from the clan and focused on molding Hanabi to be heir."

"But Hinata was strong."

"That is where trouble started. Ever since you encouraged Hinata, she has developed beyond what her previous ability let us believe was possible. The position of heir was up in the air again and it was wearing on Hinata."

"And what is Hanabi's mentality?"

"Hanabi is stern and strict and enjoyed beating her sister. She was also pissed when she heard that Hinata could still become the heir."

"So how pissed was she?"

"Like Tsunade after someone steals her sake." Everyone knows that if you take the Hokage's sake, then you're flirting with death itself. So far I've only ever known of one person who managed that feat; Jiraiya

"Ouch… That's bad."

"So why the questioning, Naruto?"

"I want the truth about Hinata's death."

"You might not like what you find."

"So be it."

"If I've learned anything about about you in these years, it is that your determination can't be stopped." Neji stood, slapped my shoulder and headed back to his training. "If you're that determined, make sure to read the note she left."

I don't know what was written in that note, but this further proved that Tsunade wasn't telling me everything. I would have to devise some sort of plan to steal a look at that note which may be horribly difficult since I'd have to figure out where it is hidden and how to get to it. I took out my notebook and added a few notes.

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: ************************************ Suspects:

Sawdust ********************************** Hyuuga Clan – Hanabi Hyuuga

Charcoal dust ****************************** Sakura?

To Do: ************************************ People to Question:

Acquire Hinata's suicide note ****************** Hanabi

***************************************** Sakura

* * *

Looking at the progress of the sun across the sky, I determined there was still plenty of time in the day to make it to the Hyuuga estate and question Hanabi. I suppose that I'll have to leave questioning Sakura and breaking into the tower to get a look at that note for tomorrow. I'm still not sure if I should have listed Sakura as a suspect, but I'm not leaving out any leads; I will find out who did this to Hinata. I know I'm emotionally involved in this investigation and that some would say I'm not looking at the big picture, but I just can't take this lying down.

Turning back down the path, I headed towards the village. I could see a small glimpse of the heads on the Hokage monument to my right while heading straight towards the Hyuuga estate. The Hyuugas all lived in the same walled in complex at the far edge of town. Behind it was a large forested area with all sorts of hidden traps stashed in locations that even they didn't venture in there for fear of not coming back. This made it easy to defend since to get to their main gate, you'd have to wade through the whole on Konoha first. This made it so they didn't need a heavily guarded front gate.

I saw the large complex come into view with the large skeletal framework of building in progress showing that they still had some rebuilding to accomplish before they were considered rebuilt. On the side closest to me was a pile of the old charred remains of their previous constructs. They happened to be furthest from ground zero of the Pain attack and so there still stood a few dilapidated buildings. They had decided to move the complex a little further to the south, so they didn't have to clean up the remains until they finished their new construction.

The wall surrounding the complex was lower than you'd expect for such a secretive place. It was most likely built to keep the eyes of villagers off of them since no wall was too tall for a shinobi to walk up. As low as it was, it was still a good 10 feet by my estimations. The wall was a simple wooden, fort style, wall, complete with sharpened points at the top; not exactly something you'd like to try and walk across. The large main gate was closed up tight like usual; it was really only opened for special occasions and moving large equipment in and out. To the right of the gate was the normal sized door, which was the real main entry.

I pounded on the heavy door and waited for an answer. Moments later a Hyuuga male came to the door with a bandanna covering his head.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, clearly not happy with my arrival.

Ko, as I remembered him, he always was walking around the village with Hinata when she was young and anytime Hiashi was out of the village he would always accompany her. If he was younger, I would have thought that he had a thing for her, but it was more like the role of an uncle or most likely a caring bodyguard. He always tried to look out for Hinata, but I still disliked him for saying things about the fox around her; he had no business trying to make me out to be a bad person.

"I want to ask Hanabi a few questions." I simply told him. I decided that he didn't need to know the reasoning behind it; if he didn't like it he could just bite me.

"She's busy. Haven't you done enough damage to the Hyuuga?" So help me… It took a lot of will power to keep from feeding this guy a rasengan.

"This isn't open for discussion." I took an aggressive approach with this guy. Sure it wasn't my style, but the whole village knows that there are a few people who could come close to defeating me in a serious fight.

"Fine…" Ko had backed down easier than I thought he would have, but that didn't bother me one bit. I followed him into the complex. It was different to actually see the inside of their estate. It functioned similar to a small village; buildings big and small were scattered in an organized fashion along small brick paths. It looked like each family had their own small house to live in. Originally I believed they all live in one huge mansion and share meals together like some kind of dorm, but I was glad to see that everyone could run their own separate lives.

We walked around to the back of the first few rows of buildings to where the large construction was taking place. I saw a small dark haired girl, who reminded me more of Neji than Hinata, barking orders to the workers assembling the building. She wore all black training clothes and no ninja village plate. The Hyuugas of the main house would rarely register as an official ninja of the village since they focused more on private teachings, leaving the protection to those of the side branches. It also made the protection of the heir easier since there would be no missions being forced on them.

"Hanabi-sama, Uzumaki-san would like to ask you a few questions." Ko announced as politely as possible while bowing his head.

"So." She replied, not caring one bit. "Put your backs into it!" She yelled at a few of the workers.

"What did you think of Hinata?" I asked without caring about being polite or waiting for her agreement. She looked at me with disdain, the typical Hyuuga look.

"She was weak, pathetic and a waste of air. I still don't believe she was my real sister. Anything else, you should ask her team." Boy did I want to pimp slap this little bitch.

"Actually she was a wonderful person." I reminded her seriously.

"Pfft, as if. She should have known her place. Pathetic piece of garbage is finally where she belongs."

CRACK!

I usually have problems with hitting women, but there are some things in this world that gender doesn't automatically absolve you of: Kicking a guy in the nuts is one, and talking shit about a good person after their death is another. The flabbergasted look on that little twit's face was priceless. The outline of my fingers were already starting to redden on her pale face while she clutched it, mouth agape, trying to figure out what happened. I felt as though she has never been reprimanded before with that look. Unfortunately I couldn't watch her any longer as I was now surrounded by Hyuuga onlookers, ready for a fight.

They all attacked at once, resulting in their gentle fist attacks smacking into a log in the place where I was standing. Luckily their didn't take me seriously, otherwise they would have seen my subtle movements before my grand escape. I had really wanted to stay there longer and ask a few more questions, but my welcome was worn out before even arriving there; I was just on borrowed time.

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: ************************************************* Suspects:

Sawdust *********************************************** Hanabi Hyuuga

Charcoal dust ******************************************* Sakura?

To Do: ************************************************* People to Question:

Acquire Hinata's suicide note ******************************* Sakura

Check for more clues with Hinata's personal effects ************* Hinata's teammates

* * *

Hanabi became suspect number one for me after her questioning. She held no emotion for the loss of her sister and was in conflict with her over clan heir. This was a motive that even I could spot without looking hard. I also had to make a note to talk with Kiba and Shino, and possibly even Kurenai. They were the ones that should know her the best and give me any insight into if Hanabi was really out to get her. I also decided that I should check Hinata's personal effects when I sneak a look at the note. There may be something I didn't notice on the road yesterday. I'll probably need to move quickly before they can hand over her stuff.

My stomach growled and made me uneasy as I walked away from the Hyuugas. Before I could do anything more, I would have to satiate my hunger. I walked down the well-traveled path towards the center of town, automatically taking the appropriate steps leading me into Ichiraku's Ramen.

I had so many fond memories of the small ramen shop. It was one of the few places I could go when I was younger and not get chased out of because of the demon inside me. Teuchi, the owner, and Ayame, his daughter, always treated me like a person, that's what helped me get addicted to ramen. Throughout the following years Iruka, my teacher from academy, would take me out as a bribe or for some other reason, but it was always one of the happier times in my life. I even managed to get my whole ninja team, team 7, to have a bowl there, despite their distaste for it.

The smell was so thick that I could almost taste its saltiness as I sat down at one of the stools. The brown haired girl behind the counter smiled when she saw me and set out a bowl already ready for me before I ordered.

"Hi Naruto, I was expecting you to show up today, so I prepared the special." Ayame always knew what flavors I wanted when I was in the mood for cheering up. She was probably my first crush before being drawn to Sakura in Academy… Actually, now that I think about it, I was only interested in Sakura acknowledging me over Sasuke. I wanted it so badly that it created the illusion of a crush. She was still a pretty girl that any guy should like, but so was Hinata.

"Thanks Ayame."

I immediately dug into the meal before me and started to devise a plan on entering the hospital's morgue. A few hours, and twice as many bowls as hours, went by before I stepped back outside. I threw my jacket back on and hurried into the night to get some equipment from my house and change into darker pants.

Silently jumping from rooftop to rooftop, I made my way through the increasingly dark sky to a building just outside the hospital. Reaching into my pack, I pulled out a simple zip line trolley which was modified with ceramic pulleys and a dense plastic handle. The ceramic pulleys were great at insulating the rest of the trolley from traveling down power lines, but their durability made it a one-time use product since the ceramic wasn't very durable. Of course in the event of it grounding out, the plastic handle gave just enough time to abort and survive.

Attaching it to the power line, I was careful in not touching anything, to prevent a quick death, before pushing off the building and ripping down the line to the hospital. It was a quick but pleasant journey, cool air ruffling my hair, glittering sky above… I jumped from the zipline and barely grasped the edge of the roofing with my fingers. Pulling myself up onto the flat roof, I declared to myself that 'I was in' and starting the next phase.

The door on the roof was locked for the night, but I was hoping for a poor execution of the locking mechanism. I pulled out a thin piece of plastic and worked it around the latch carefully. Within a few seconds, I was rewarded with the door releasing from the latch plate. The door creaked while I opened it, how I had wished for some oil for the hinges as it seemed to scream out in the quiet night air. The door clicked behind me, leaving me in a pitch black staircase. After feeling my way down about on flight of stairs, my eyes finally adjusted to the minimal light and I headed to the basement.

A large stainless door block my way when I reached the lowest floor, marked 'Morgue'; I had finally made it. I reached out and twisted the door handle, only to find this door was locked too. Unfortunately this one had a plate over the latching mechanism, making it impossible to treat it like the earlier one; this one needed a key. Knowing of only one location of keys, I went back up to the first floor and snuck into the hospital.

I hated the smell of antiseptic and floor cleaner which permeated through the halls of the hospital. I had spent so much time in the Hospital over the years that it always stood out in my memories as something I never want to smell. I cursed to myself while stepping foot in that building again. The hall was dimly lit, leading to another brighter lit hall where the night personnel would be. Quietly I approached the junction of the hall, doing my best to keep my soles from squeaking on the shiny floor. Taking a breath, I peered around the corner and jolted back in an instant. There was only one person on duty, sitting at the desk where I knew the keys were hidden. I needed a way to get her away from the desk.

My greatest asset in this situation has always been my greatest ability. Ever since I learned the kage bushin, shadow clone, I used it for everything. Most of the time I used it for unusual things, like training and pranks, but this time I get to use it for something it was intended to be used for. After making a single clone, I hid in the nearby closet while letting my clone make its way down the hall for a diversion. When I heard a room alert buzzer sound at the desk, I waited with the door cracked open, waiting for the person to pass by. Once she did, I bolted around the corner and straight to the drawer with the keys. I grabbed the whole pile of them and made it back to the closet, waiting for the personnel to return to the desk. I waited quietly. I heard a rattling at the closet door and started to panic. The door started to open and I was trying to come up with a good excuse for holding a pile of keys. When the door opened, I saw blue eyes and blonde hair. I sucked in a sigh of relief when I saw my clone looking at me; I had forgotten to release the jutsu. He disappeared in a puff of smoke and I silently made my way back to the basement to curse at the keys, one after the other.

Half way through the pile, I finally found the key that unlocked the door. I handed off the keys to two new clones for them to return as stealthily as before, while I went in to find what I had come for. The room was creepy and cold. The metallic tables and storage units gave a sterile feel and added to the inhuman creepiness. Finder her storage unit was easy since there were few occupied, but I was really hesitant on opening the door. I stood there with my hand on the latch refusing to move, I didn't want to… Grabbing my courage, I pulled open the door just far enough to grab the bag of personal effects lying on top of her feet and slammed the door shut.

My heart was still racing when I dumped the contents on the nearby counter. There were a few ninja tools, the kunai from her chest, her stained clothing and the forehead protector which was worn around her neck. The clothes were normal, just a small rip on the shoulder, most likely from the mission she was on. I set them aside and looked for the slip of paper. It was still folded neatly and was placed inside another plastic resealable bag. When I pulled it out, I wasn't expecting to see what was written. 'I can't handle living without feeling a loving gesture, a loving embrace. I want to feel loved and have received nothing despite what I try to put in. I can't live this life anymore. I'm sorry for the trouble of having to clean up after my death, but I'm done. I was waiting for Naruto, but couldn't wait any longer. Sorry.'

My heart ached. I was worrying all this time about my own crappy life and she was having the very same feelings. I could have stopped this from ever happening had I just talked to her after her confession. My eyes stung as the tears wanted to escape. I still couldn't believe that her life was that bad, but her note said otherwise. I shoved all the stuff back into the bag and threw it into the storage bin without thinking one bit. If I were to think, I would probably lose it. I headed up the stairs and out on the roof before jumping away towards my home.

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: ******************************************** Suspects:

Sawdust ****************************************** Hanabi Hyuuga

Charcoal dust ************************************** Sakura Haruno?

Suicide Note**************************************** Hinata Hyuuga

People to Question:

Sakura

Hinata's teammates

* * *

After a quick breakfast, I set out again to further my investigation. After last night's venture into the hospital I wasn't feeling as good about the truth behind her death as previously thought. I had to try to remain as neutral as possible as couldn't refute the fact staring me in the face, that she may have done it to herself. It didn't sit well with me but evidence was evidence.

The morning was already hot to the point of not even considering grabbing a jacket. The day was picture perfect. Light fluffy clouds and a cooling breeze, Shikamaru's dream atmosphere. Unfortunately I had no desire to watch the clouds today; I had things to do.

Team 8 from our academy graduation consisted of Shino Aburame, from the Aburame clan whose special ability involves harboring insects below their skin which they use for unique jutsu. Kiba Inuzuka, his clan raised and trained dogs for use as a ninja partner, and of course Hinata. Kurenai Yuhi was their jonin instructor, a master of genjutsu, illusions of the mind. Their unique abilities made for an excellent tracking team. There were even a few missions where I joined them, and I have to say that their teamwork was impeccable. With a team this tightly knit, they are sure to have some helpful information for my investigation.

Having traveled with them a few times, I was pretty sure I knew where they were. I know it will probably be hard on them, but I need to see what they thought about Hinata's state of mind. There was a small park in the center of the village where they used to meet since all three lived on opposite sides of town. I was sure that they would be there.

I was soon looking up at the peaceful sky, clouds drifting lazily while birds chirped in the breeze. I couldn't figure out why I was watching the clouds when there was important things to be doing, that was until I felt a dull pain in my jaw. Yeah, I just got sucker punched. I stood up, rubbing my jaw. Kiba was standing in front of me while shaking out his fist.

"What the Fuck dog breath!?" I shouted, that shit had better watch himself, I'm definitely not in the mood

"Fuck you ass hat! As far as I'm concerned, you killed Hinata!" I burst into brilliant orange flames and in an instant I buried my fist into his gut, causing him to teeter backwards, crashing on the ground. He started to turn red as he gasped to try and fill his lungs with air.

"Say that again and I'll tear you to pieces." Akamaru hunched towards the ground and growled deeply at me, guarding his master. When the head of the Kyuubi formed out of my chakra and growled back, the giant dog whimpered and tried hiding behind Kiba's writhing body. Had it been any other day, I would have laughed.

"Hey Shino." I greeted. Like usual, you couldn't tell what he was thinking from behind the sunglasses he always wore.

"Hey." He replied dryly

"Can I ask you about Hinata?" I was unsure if he was going to be willing or not under the current situation. It usually was a sore subject when you lost a team mate.

"You can…" He started walking away from Kiba, indicating that he'd like to talk away from his overly emotional teammate. We sat down at a bench not too far from the park to continue the conversation.

"What was Hinata's recent state of mind?"

"She was so full of life and optimistic after she helped you. She told us many times that she would be glad to risk her life for you again. Slowly, though, her optimism started to falter. She was saddened and more downcast than usual leading up to… you know."

"Was she really capable of doing that to herself?"

"If she felt there was no alternative, then yes…"

"But?" I sensed he had a little more to say.

"My personal opinion is that she would never kill herself as long as you still lived."

"Why me?" I still couldn't figure out why someone would do anything for me. I was an outcast and everyone looked down on me.

"You gave hope. Seeing you stand up to be recognized despite your lack of skill made her want to do the same. She admired you since even before the academy when you didn't even know her."

"That early… I didn't even know." It was surprising to find out that she knew me from before the academy, but now that he mentioned it, I do remember a little girl being bullied many years ago. I got my ass kick by them, but she didn't get hurt. Maybe that was her then too.

"Yeah." Shino stood up and headed back to his meeting point. I remained on the rough wooded bench stating at the grey rocks scattered across the road. Shino contradicted all my thoughts, he first said that she was capable of suicide, but then said she wasn't. I was lost again and made no progress towards my investigation. I knew I'd get nowhere with Kiba, so I decided to go to Kurenai's house. She acted like a mother to Hinata, so maybe she has a woman's perspective on this situation.

* * *

Kurenai wasn't an actively participating ninja these days while she raised her child. She was involved with another jonin, and the instructor of Shuikamaru, Ino and Choji; Asuma Sarutobi. Unfortunately Asuma never got to see his child since he was killed the criminal organization, Akatsuki about a year or two ago. She usually wore something resembling bandages configured as a dress and had unique red eyes. Her long shoulder length hair helped to accentuate her natural elegance and beauty. She was definitely one of the better looking kunoichi of her generation. She took a real liking to Hinata, even before she entered the academy, and has been known to talk with her about many difficult situations.

I arrived at her small house; two windows on either side of the front door with flower boxes below them. It was a humble and cozy arrangement for an accomplished ninja like herself. I walked up to the door and gave it a firm knock.

"Coming." I heard her chime from behind the door. She opened the door in a simple dress and apron; she had fully been taken over by her motherly instincts. She still wore a little makeup, so at least she still thought of herself as a woman and not just a mom.

"Naruto… I'm sorry." I still didn't quite get why most people were apologizing to me. I know Hinata was special to me, but it just felt like they treated me like I lost a wife. I felt that I didn't deserve that sympathy. Still, I did enjoy feeling warm arms wrap around me, holding me in a gentle embrace. I didn't get many hugs, so I was always glad to receive one.

"Please come in." She opened the door wide and ushered me in. The main room was small but inviting. There were small toys scattered neatly on the floor showing that her little one just recently was put down for a nap. There was only room for a single couch in the small house, but it looked comfortable. I sat down and verified that it felt even better than it looked.

"Did you want to talk about her?" She asked while sitting down next to me.

"Yeah…" I don't know why I always felt so down. I know Hinata is gone, but it just weighed so much heavier on me than other deaths. "She confused me."

"How so?"

"I didn't get to talk to her but a few times and then she confesses to me. I couldn't talk to her about it until I could figure out my personal take, but now it's too late." Kurenai leaned back in her seat and set her feet on a foot rest kept near the couch with a slight groan.

"Sometimes, there are people who you spend little time with that beyond all reason inspire you. You get drawn to them instinctively. These are the ones that can see past your errors and issues, whether it be hyper or uncontrollable shyness. You were both similar in that way. You both could see what others couldn't. It was really just a matter of time before one of you would fall for the other. She just fell first because she always watched you."

"If what you say is true, then I would have fallen for her too?" She smiled and pulled me closer with her arm around my shoulder, giving me a sideways hug.

"You're here aren't you?" She whispered to me with saddened eyes preparing to burst. Her sadness starting wearing on me and my eyes started to feel watery.

"But she's gone…"

"Maybe, but she will always live in our hearts. Trust what you feel and follow it."

"What do you mean, follow what?" She just smiled and tapped the small notebook I had in my shirt pocket. I think she knew something and wanted me to discover it, much like I'm discovering the hidden feelings I had for Hinata. Kurenai stood up and walked me to the door. She gave me another hug before sending me on my way.

Everything I had gotten from Hinata's teammates was starting to strengthen my initial thought about her death. Although there was some suggestions supporting the theory that the wounds were self-inflicted, there was stronger evidence that there was foul play involved. It wasn't overwhelming enough to cross her off the list of suspects, but enough that I could focus back on pursuing my instincts on this case.

The heat was sweltering in the mid afternoon, the hottest time of the day. When you looked off into the distance, you could see the waves of heat radiating off the roofs of houses and buildings. I wiped the sweat from my brow and stepped into a restaurant for a very late lunch; the heat didn't make me hungry for ramen today.

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: ************************************************ Suspects:

Sawdust ********************************************** Hanabi Hyuuga

Charcoal dust *******************************************Sakura Haruno?

Suicide Note ********************************************Hinata Hyuuga

People to Question:

Sakura

* * *

Sakura was the last person I needed to speak with. Ino accused her of being violently jealous of Hinata, mostly because she didn't want anyone to be happy if she wasn't. I'm not keen on believing her, but I needed to ask her for her perspective of Hinata. Once that is out of the way I'll have to figure out how the clues fit into everything, or if I'm just seeing things.

I headed out to Sakura's apartment. It was giving to her when she turned 18 by Tsunade, who decided that she should have a place closer to the hospital for emergency purposes. That pink haired girl was an excellent medic but had a horrible temper, especially when I would say or do something stupid. Other than getting beat down by her, she was a decent friend, companion, and teammate. I scaled the long set of stairs to her 2nd story apartment. I could clearly see the hospital to my left while I leaned on the railing, waiting for her to answer the doorbell.

"Yeah!" She yelled as she flung the door open. She wore her usual red sleeveless shirt and black shorts with her hair held back with a fabric headband. The ship had already sailed on the idea of dating her quite some time ago, actually it was probably after she gave that half assed confession to keep me from chasing down Sasuke like I vowed to her when he deserted the village 6 years ago. I used to do everything for her attention back in the day, but nothing ever came out of it. She was selfish at times and even let the rivalry for Sasuke's affection ruin her friendship with Ino. She was just repaid with loneliness.

"Oh Naruto… Come in." This wasn't my first time at her apartment so I was comfortable making myself at home on the sofa. "So what's up?" she asked, being just a little too chipper.

"I want to talk about Hinata." When she heard this, her eyes turned dark, wiping away the brightness held earlier. She looked away with an unpleasant look on her face.

"She's dead… Let's just forget about her."

"No, something isn't right." She turned back and placed her hand on mine, lightly squeezing it.

"Suicide is hard to reason out so it is better to push it out of your mind."

"But I don't think it was."

"Does it change the fact that she's gone?"

"No, but if it wasn't…" Sakura held up her finder to her lips, shushing my sentence. She stood up and faced me, stepping closer slowly.

"Let's forget it." She persuaded while crawling into my lap, facing me. She reached up and pulled my forehead protector off and tossed it to the side and leaned forward, burying her face in my neck, kissing and lightly biting my flesh. My heart started to race. I didn't know how to react to this alien contact. Part of it felt good, I mean really good, while another part made me feel dirty. She stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling me along down the small hallway. I was still stunned and mindlessly followed her.

She opened the door to her bedroom and forcefully threw me back onto her bed with her unnatural strength. With a grin, she jumped on the bed and straddled my legs. She grabbed the hem of her shirt and tossed it to the side in a fluid motion. I was now looking up as a hot girl in just a black bra looking down at me hungrily. Her pink hair bounced while she leaned forward, grabbing at my shirt. I couldn't make up my mind on what to do. On one hand, this was all too weird to be happening so fast. I was emotional, weak and easily coerced, so it just felt like I was being taken advantage of. On the other hand, I was a guy and damn was it exciting me.

'Crash,Clang… Thwap'

Sakura jumped off the side of the bed as the Kunai embedded itself in to the ceiling. With the adrenaline still pumping from the excitement, I leapt out the broken window just in time to catch a glimpse of a person dressed in black heading into the already setting sun. I landed in the middle of the street and took off at full sprint after them. I could barely make out his form, jumping from roof top to roof top, somehow knowing that I was following.

As the sun got lower I could see less and less of the perpetrator; I knew that I would lose him once the sun went down, so I had to catch up by then. Pouring on the speed, I started to catch up, but this person was fast. Left turn, right. Through tree branches, down roofs. We were all over the place. I turned to using some of the Kyuubi's chakra just to catch up. In a flash I was on him, grabbing at his shoulders to bring him down. Suddenly he turned, pivoting on the ball of one foot, easily stripping my grasp. I stumbled forward right as a hail of kunai and shuriken closed in on me. It was all I could do to make a few sacrificial clones to take the brunt of the attack. I collapsed as they all dispersed, leaving a large cloud of smoke to block my vision.

The sky was now dark as I stood in the middle of a dense forest just east of the Hokage monument. I could barely even make out the crescent moon through the thick, leafy canopy. I wiped the sweat off my upper lip and smelled burnt wood. Looking down I saw my hands were covered in charcoal ash, the same stuff that was on Hinata's clothing. If this was the killer, than that would rule out Sakura, but then they would need to have motive to kill Sakura as well. It is also possible that it could be a targeted attack against anyone who shows an interest in me… If that is the case, then it could be Sasuke. This investigation just keeps taking avenues that lead in every different direction. This is so not my specialty… I headed back to my house. I was tired, I was upset, and I did not want to go back to Sakura's. I'll just have to get my forehead protector later…

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: *******************************************************Suspects:

Sawdust *****************************************************Hanabi Hyuuga

Charcoal dust************************************************* Sakura Haruno?

Suicide Note************************************************** Hinata Hyuuga?

Ash on intruder************************************************ Sasuke Uchiha?

Weapons

To do:

Research ash and weapons – talk with TenTen about recent purchases. Also talk with Tsunade about the attack.

* * *

When I woke the next morning I didn't feel like getting out of bed. I rolled and stirred for nearly an hour before resigning to my fate and got up for the day. I looked out the window in my bedroom and saw the sky was overcast again. After preparing for the day I stepped out in the cool air, glad that I took my jacket. I started out in the direction of TenTen's family forge to ask her about the weaponry I picked up in the altercation last night, but felt out of place without my forehead protector, so I modified my trip to head by Sakura's and the Hokage's instead.

When I rounded the corner to The apartment, I saw Anbu and ninja surrounding the place. Something was going on and now I was worried. I ran to the complex just in time to be caught by Tsunade who forcefully restrained me.

"It's Sakura… She was stabbed through the heart with a kunai." There was just no describing the state of my heart at that moment. The world sank and I felt like hell. I looked at Tsunade and she shook her head "We found her this morning, she's been dead for hours." I was so devastated that I just went blank.

"Where's my hitai-ate? I forgot it here last night when I chased an attacker."

"There was an attacker?"

"Yeah, I chased him last night but lost him. I was coming to tell you about it this morning."

"I see… There wasn't a hitai-ate there, so the killer must have taken it, this could be bad… What exactly have you been doing during your time off? Drawing attention?" Tsunade looked at me knowing that I was doing something outside of my regular work which most likely drew in the attacker.

"Investigating the death of Hinata." Her eyes widened.

"I see, I should have trusted your instincts. Go let off some steam and return so you can catch this bastard." I turned away, walking towards the main gate of Konoha.

"FUCKING MOTHERFUCKER!" The kyuubi chakra burst into brilliant orange flames around my body and I tore out the village.

"WHY goddamn it why?" I shouted as my chakra hands ripped up trees smashing them into the ground. I fell to my knees and started punching the ground in anger. "Why… Why…Why… WHY!?" Tears started running down my cheeks. My chakra cloak faded as I fell on my face in the center of a large crater, still punching at the ground with bloodied fists until the light faded away into darkness.

I woke up with the smell of antiseptic which I knew so well. I could feel the bandages tightly wrapped around my arms. My head was aching… I felt physically ok, but I was mentally exhausted. It was hard enough to lose Hinata, but Sakura as well. At least there was one thing to come out of this mess; there now was evidence that Hinata didn't kill herself. I had to figure out who killed them both before someone else gets attacked.

It took all I had to drag myself up from the bed. My body felt heavy while I threw my legs over the side of the bed and stood on wobbly feet. I quickly sat back down, knowing I wouldn't be able to operate properly. I closed my eyes and sat perfectly still, centering my mind and calming my nerves until I felt the presence on nature chakra and started pulling it into my body. I'm glad I still remembered the teachings of that old toad Fukasu. Nature chakra helps you recover much faster than usual and with my natural healing ability from the kyuubi, I heal almost instantly. My limbs didn't feel as heavy as before and when I stood this time, I was actually able to keep my balance. I grabbed my jacket, which was hanging on the back of the door, and made my way out of the hospital through the front door. Then I thought… Maybe instead of breaking in through the roof, I could have walked in through the front door…

I walked through the large glass door and was quickly blinded by the sun peeking through the dispersing cloud cover. It was already after noon by the height of the sun, but still a tad cool out. My muscles were still tight from lying in bed and the walk was starting to do them good. I stepped off of the main gravel road onto the rocky, winding path leading to TenTen's family forge.

TenTen was an orphan who was found outside the village and had no memory of a last name. Soon after, she read about Tsunade, one of the three great ninja from Konoha, and she entered the academy. She started out wanting to be a medic ninja just like her new idol, but somehow fell in love with weapons and any and all sharp and dangerous objects. She was always up at the local forge looking at the tools and she just kind of adopted the older couple who ran it as her own. Of course there wasn't any official paperwork, but that didn't matter, as long as you felt like a family.

I saw the old brick building come over the horizon, smoke billowing from the chimney. This was one of the very few buildings that survived Pain's shinra tensei attack due to its remote location. This was a major bonus since the following ninja war required thousands of weapons to be manufactured. I stepped into the purchasing lobby and like always, TenTen was there, looking and playing with all the different types of weapons. She was still dressed like she was years prior with the Chinese hair buns and Chinese inspired shirt.

"Don't you already have one of everything?" I asked as a greeting. She looked over at me with a sad smile.

"Hey Naruto, how are you holding up?"

"Could be worse but I'm holding it together."

"So why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting, grieving, or something?"

"I'm investigating something and could use your expert opinion." I took out a pouch and dumped all the weapons I had retrieved from the previous night onto the table. They all clanged against each other, coming to a rest on the wooden surface. There was about 10 kunai and 9 shuriken in the pile since I didn't search for all of them after the attack. "I have reason to believe these weapons are from the same person who killed Sakura and Hinata. Is there anything unusual about them?"

TenTen looked them over, inspecting the grain of the metal and the marks from the forging process for the usual signs of the artist. She sorted them out on the table, kunai in one pile, shuriken in the next, and a separate section where she place two of the kunai into.

"The majority of the kunai and shuriken are standard leaf issue. They were leftovers from the ninja war, so they are about as generic as can be, but these two are recent forgings." She motioned me to take a closer look at the handle and blade design. "These are a smaller version of a standard kunai. You can see that the handle is too small for a man's hand."

She handed the weapon to me, and sure enough, the ring at the end rested on my knuckle while my index finger was touching the sharpened blade. There was no way I could fight with one of these. I set the blade back on the counter.

"So the attacker has small hands… "

"Yes sir… as genin we only used full sized kunai during practice since they are cheap, so logically I would suspect that this blade was used by a kunoichi of at least chuunin. I buy ones similar to these since it helps with accuracy."

"Do the Hyuuga order these?"

"They do, Hinata liked them a lot and Hanabi started to use them not long ago. Also Ino and Kiba's mom buy them up."

"Do you have a list of customers that buy this particular style?" I asked, this was the only forge in Konoha and the only way you can have such easy access to the village is by being a citizen. Not only that, but there is no one from outside of the village that could lose me in a foot race in my own village. It had to be a ninja within our walls.

"There are a few, but I can get you a list."

"Thanks TenTen." While she started drawing up the list, I packed the weapons back into my pouch and tucked them away into my jacket again. I took the list and headed back down the path to the village.

"Hana and Tsume Inuzuka… Kiba's family…" I muttered as I read the list, sometimes out loud. "Hinata, Hanabi, Ino, TenTen…" Well I would have been suspicious if she didn't list herself… I tucked the paper into my pocket and headed for the Hokage tower, I was really onto something now.

* * *

(Notebook)

Clues: ******************************************************* Suspects:

Sawdust ***************************************************** Hanabi Hyuuga

Charcoal dust

Suicide Note

Ash on attacker

Weapons

Forge customer list

To do:

Research ash

Talk with Tsunade about the attack.

* * *

The process to eliminate my list of suspects was easy, it wasn't a guy and they were still alive. This left me with just one suspect, Hanabi. In all actuality, anyone on that list, who was still alive, could have been a suspect, but the motive eliminated most of them. Hanabi had the motive to kill Hinata, the ability, and had evidence against her. The only thing I couldn't figure out is why Sakura was killed. She just didn't fit into the puzzle. If I was getting too close, I would have been targeted, why her? I continued racking my brain until I found myself walking through the gate to the Hokage tower.

The steps were finished properly this time around so you didn't slip and slide across the surface while running up them. Following the usual path, I was in front of Tsunade's office, knocking on the door. After a loud and angry 'Enter' from her, I walked through the doorway.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing leaving the hospital like that?"

"Sorry baa-chan, I had to continue my investigation. I just can't sit around and wait when there's stuff to do."

"Hasn't your investigation taken enough lives? Sakura is gone because of it, who's next?" I slapped my hand loudly onto the surface of her desk.

"This isn't my fault!"

"I don't care what you think! Hiashi has filed a grievance with you for striking Hanabi for who knows what, we are now down two of our best kunoichi and our best shinobi is a loose cannon running around the village getting people killed. What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to trust me. I know I'm not the best thinker here, but obviously I'm onto something your intelligent ninja overlooked, so cut me a break!"

"I'm cutting no breaks Naruto." Her voice changed from yelling to being downcast and serious. "I am revoking your status as a ninja until you've had enough time to grieve the death of your friends."

"But…"

"No! We will take over the official investigation. Leave it to us and let yourself process what has happened. It has been a bad week."

"You don't have to tell me that!"

"Good, then go home and grieve, it is an important process." I couldn't believe that she was pulling me from my very own case that they refused to research. Unfortunately, I couldn't go against the Hokage… well not openly…

"Fine." I turned around and stormed out of the office. No way in hell was I going to drop this. I was going to end this, and soon. I knew there was only one suspect on my list, so I was going to stake out the Hyuuga estate and follow her until she shows her true colors. I went back to my house and packed a bag for the planned stake out. Plenty of snacks, binoculars, and a camera for evidence; I was prepared to get the break in my case that I needed.

I set up a special blind on top of the nearest flat roofed building. It looked just like the water tanks most buildings had above them, so no one would notice an extra one. I had a clear view on the entire Hyuuga estate from my blind, I could even slightly see over their walls into the complex itself.

Night fell across Konoha and I had yet to see Hanabi leave the protection of the Hyuuga. It was getting difficult to recognize everyone that passed by in the dim light, but I kept myself alert and trained on each and every one of them. It had just passed midnight when I spotted someone jumping across the roofs of buildings with the same gait and flair of the person who attacked me the other night. She, as his evidence pointed out, landed on the pathway, walking towards the Hyuuga estate when I decided to make a move. I was impatient as ever, but I've made it this far like this…

The moment I touched the ground, I was struck hard with a palm to my chest. I took a few steps back to catch my balance as my attacker took off faster than I thought possible by someone other than Lee or Gai. The chase was on… I bolted after her, tearing through the village once again. Off the roofs, off the branches. I chased her towards the Hokage monument where she ran straight up the side of it without missing a beat.

"Stop!" I shouted as I started catching up to her. She jumped and twisted in the air, flinging a mass of weapons at me like previously. I made clones to take the hits and just like before she was gone after the dispersal smoke cleared. I smiled devilishly before disappearing in the same puff of smoke.

Even though I was impatient, I knew when to try to fool people. That is where my proficiency with clones comes in. I was actually fascinated the first time I realized the memories of the clones come back to me once they were released. Once that was revealed, there were so many more uses for them. The memories from the clones I sent out popped into my mind, making a smile spread across my face. The idea was to give the attacker a false sense of security that I had been lost while I was really still in the blind to ambush her at the right time. With the sense of security, I was sure she wouldn't be as careful this second time around.

I saw the black form running towards the Hyuuga estate once again. Right on time… I watched intently when she neared the door. Little more… I silently urged. Just when she got to the door, she passed it. This was confusing now. I was sure she'd go in. She slowed down and walked around the corner of the estate and into the old estate's ruins. The burned wood was tossed in piles around the area, waiting to be disposed of. You could see where some of the still standing buildings were being cut down… wait… charcoal from the burnt wood and sawdust?

I knew at that moment that I had my killer. I saw her duck into one of the destroyed buildings and I followed once she was out of sight. Down to the road I leapt. Silently I shuffled closer. I could still catch a faint smell of burning wood lingering in the air. This was it. I moved silently through the rubble until I got to the piece of canvas covering the hole where the perpetrator disappeared into. I pulled it back and ducked inside.

There were steps leading lower into the building… Lower and lower it went as it got darker and darker. I could barely see my hand waving in front of me. The stairs finally stopped as the hall opened into a small room with a faint light in the corner outlining the shape of the attacker. I could even see my hitai-ate hanging on the wall like a trophy. I snuck silently towards her…

* * *

(Notes)

There are three endings for this short story, Choose your preferred flavor with the drop-down - review your favorite ending

...Later


	6. Naruto's Impromptu Investigation (Sweet)

**Sweet**

* * *

As I got closer, she whirled around and threw kunai in my direction. I changed tactics and spun a tight ball of chakra in my hand.

"Rasen…"

"Naruto!" I stopped inches away from her chest and immediately closed my fingers around the sphere, breaking the jutsu. The voice… I knew that voice. Her small hands wrapped around mine and I pushed back her cloak with the other one, revealing her pearly eyes, porcelain like face and inky blue hair.

"Hinata?" I gasped and grabbed her in a tight hug. I felt the heat in her cheeks while I nestled into the hug. "I'm glad you're alive."

"I'm sorry." She whispered in my ear, that was when questions started popping into my head… Did she really kill Sakura? This gentle girl?

"Hinata, did you…" She shook her head, not wanting to answer

"Let's go talk with Hokage-sama." I nodded and silently guided her up the stairs and out into the village. Her cheeks looked streaked with tears when I saw her in the moonlight.

"Were you crying?" She started wiping at her cheeks and forced a smile.

"Y… Yes" I knew something was up here, but couldn't figure out what. We walked through the gate into the Hokage's residence and headed up the stairs to her office. Usually she wasn't up at this hour, but we could see Tsunade's light on from outside. We stepped in through the door and saw Tsunade sitting at her desk like she was expecting someone.

"Hinata…" Tsunade looked at the small girl with a serious look. "Mission accomplished." I looked at the beautiful Hyuuga and saw he smile.

"Yes." She replied happily while tears started dripping down her face.

"Baa-chan, what's going on?"

"You passed moron!" Shouted a brash voice that could only belong to one person. "Damn Hinata, did you really have to kill me? I was just having some fun." There she was, standing next to me, that pink haired pain known as Sakura. I was so lost that I couldn't say a thing.

"Fun or not…" Hinata started while growing increasingly red. "N…Naruto's mine." I snapped my surprised attention back to Hinata and looked at her reddened face; she was very cute at that moment. "T… That is if you'll have me." I looked from Hinata to Tsunade and then Sakura only to turn back to Hinata. She was nervously tapping her fingers together. I looked at Tsunade who was grinning like she had just won the jackpot at a casino.

"It was all a ruse… a test. You are the most powerful ninja in our village but you never think things through so we could never promote you. This was a drastic approach, but we put you in a specially designed test so you would knowingly use your brain instead of brawn. You did well despite your emotional ties to the victims. I know it was emotionally hard on you all but think to the future. Naruto, you are hereby promoted to Jonin!"

"I… what?"

"You passed the jonin test, Naruto." Hinata affirmed while standing closer

"I'm a jonin?" She nodded with a sweet smile. "Alright!" I yelled and grabbed Hinata, dancing around in circles. She was laughing and smiling while we twirled around. All the emotions and weight rolled off my back. My friends were alive, Hinata was alive. Everything was looking up. Hinata was so happy as we celebrated that she didn't have time to react when I pressed my lips to hers, feeling the softness of her skin held in mine. Sorrow of the deaths and my anger of testing me this way didn't even matter anymore, I was kissing a girl. Hinata moved closer as I pulled away making me laugh at her forward movement, causing us to break apart. She looked so cute with her lips half pursed and eyes mostly closed.

"Looks like you've already got him Hinata." Sakura mentioned in a laugh. Even I started to blush, now that I realized what happened. I could only guess how the shy little Hinata was taking it. I looked over at her and she was bright red but still held consciousness as she leaned on me, holding onto my arm tightly.

"Finally…" She squeaked quietly

* * *

3 years later

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" Shouted the jonin medic at the hospital. I was pacing back and forth, wearing a hole in the floor before he snapped up my attention. He threw his arm in a large happy circle, motioning me to follow. "It's a girl!" He shouted happily as he pushed me through the door. My beautiful wife looked over at me with a happy smile. I walked up next to her and looked at the tiny dark haired girl lying in her petite arms.

"She looks just like you Hinata." I told her while touching the newborn's hand with my seemingly huge finger.

"I can't be this beautiful." She replied while cradling her child.

"But you're the closest one to second place." In leaned in and kissed my tired wife… Damn life is good.


	7. Naruto's Investigation (bittersweet)

**Bittersweet**

* * *

As I got closer, she whirled around and threw kunai in my direction. I changed tactics and spun a tight ball of chakra in my hand.

"Rasen…"

"Naruto!" I stopped inches away from her chest and immediately closed my fingers around the sphere, breaking the jutsu. The voice… I knew that voice. Her small hands wrapped around mine and I pushed back her cloak with the other one, revealing her pearly eyes, porcelain like face and inky blue hair.

"Hinata?" I gasped and grabbed her in a tight hug. I felt the heat in her cheeks while I nestled into the hug. "I'm glad you're alive."

"Naruto… you'll forgive me right?" I stepped back and looked at her beautiful face "You'll forgive me for killing Sakura?"

"I… I" In all the excitement, I forgot about that part. Somewhere inside it felt that if Hinata was alright then Sakura was too, but it wasn't true. "I was devastated when you died and I'm over joyed that you're alive, but you will have to answer for your crimes. Sakura was my friend, and it hurts. Why did you do it Hinata?"

"I… I couldn't…." She started to cry and sniffling. "I couldn't let her have you." It kind of made sense now. She wanted to get away from her clan without repercussions and then she saw me with Sakura and jealousy turned to rage.

"Hinata, you still didn't have to kill her." She cried while I tied her hands behind her back and pulled her up the stairs, out into the village. She didn't struggle and went with him down the street to the Hokage tower, tears flowing the entire way. When they entered the gate to the Hokage's mansion, Tsunade was standing outside with an angry look on her face while dressed in only a bathrobe.

"What is the meaning of…" She stopped when she saw Hinata's small face look up at her with tear stained cheeks. "Oh Hinata…" She said with disappointment in her voice. She already had figured what happened the moment she saw her.

"It's not going to be good is it baa-chan?"

"No Naruto, murder is very serious… I just wish you would have come to us before it got so bad Hinata." She just grunted in recognition and hung her head in shame. The chuunin guards around Tsunade started tugging on Hinata's restraints to tear her away from me

"I… I don't want to…" She started crying as they tugged on her harder.

"I'm sorry Hinata." I brushed the hair out of her face and leaned in so I could clearly see her face which started to flush. "You only had to be patient." I leaned in and placed my lips on hers. I could taste the saltiness left by her tears on her lips that were softer than anything I had ever touched before. When I broke apart, her face was bright red and her eyes never opened before she went limp. The guards easily carried her off afterwards.

"I don't suppose this was a positive outcome…" Tsunade muttered to me. I felt saddened again… I really wanted to be there for her, but she did kill one of my best friends. "Sorry, but usually the murder of a ninja results in execution." She patted my back and sent me home. I knew she wanted to say something profound and uplifting, but there was no denying the facts.

* * *

3 years later

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" Greeted the guard at the entrance to the new hospital wing

"Good afternoon." I greeted in return. It took a little getting used to being called Hokage. I had wanted it for as long as I can remember and now it was finally here.

"And how is our patient?" I asked as I stepped through the highly secured doors.

"Great as usual." He replied with a smile.

I let the door swing shut, locking behind me before I headed for another, larger door. It took a large amount of money and coaxing, but I finally was able to convince the hospital to add the new wing. Of course it took all of my available funds, but I did it anyways. 'The Hall for the Criminally Insane' it read on the outside of the door.

I smiled at it before swinging the door open into a large entryway. Everything inside the room looked exactly like my old house in the village, except the windows were barred. The same open living room, this time with furniture, and the same open kitchen, this time with a beautiful chef in it.

"Smells good Hinata." She turned around and ran towards me, jumping into my arms.

"Naruto!" She planted a warm kiss on my lips making me smile afterwards.

It was not a storybook romance, but I was glad when she was sentenced to life in a ward for the criminally insane. Tsunade argued that she was threatened by her clan, which pushed her too far and seeing Naruto and Sakura together pushed her to a rage known only by an insane person. It was a true fact, because up until that point, I was sure she'd never lay a finger on anyone. I was so glad that she was spared, even though I'm still saddened by Sakura's death, I got to be with Hinata.

"I love you Hinata."

"Love you too."


	8. Naruto's Impromptu Investigation(bitter)

**Bitter**

* * *

As I got closer, she whirled around and threw kunai in my direction. I changed tactics and spun a tight ball of chakra in my hand.

"Rasengan!" Taking this person in dead or alive was my only mission. I would have liked to keep her alive, but my life was being endangered, so the option changed quickly. I plunged the blue orb into her chest, the force of the spinning tearing at her flesh. She screamed out loudly and fell to the ground while coughing up her life giving fluid.

"Why did you kill them?" I demanded. I knew she wasn't dead yet, but there was just a few seconds before it would turn that way.

"The clan… Couldn't… Naruto… is mine." She coughed out between her hacking. I walked up to her fading body and pulled back the cloak to see her last dying moments. I looked down and saw light colorless eyes staring back at me framed in the most attractive bluish tinted hair. When she looked up at me, she tried to smile with her blood soaked lips.

"Naruto… I'm glad… that it… ended with you." Her small hand brushed across my cheek before falling to the ground. Tears flooded down my cheeks and I buried my face in her clothing while I bawled uncontrollably, crying out all my crushed emotions into her dead form. There was nothing that I could do to keep them back. I had just done something horrible… I had just killed Hinata.

* * *

3 years have gone by since that day where I lost my old self and found a new one. In the aftermath, it was found that Hinata staged her own death to get out of her clan and avoid the caged bird seal that marks you as a member of the branch family. She had killed Sakura because she didn't want me to get near her… Just plain jealousy.

After it all, I finally understood many things that both Sasuke and Pain were trying to teach me. The feeling of revenge, hate, discord, betrayal… I had now become an expert in them and started to use them to reach my lofty goals. I had realized quite some time ago that with the proper persuasion, it would be easy to become Hokage.

* * *

Tsunade was on her last legs and there was need for a replacement for her position. The whole village was awaiting the arrival of the Fire Daimyo's decision. The official messenger bird landed and the message was pulled out and read.

"The new Hokage is… Naruto Uzumaki." Called out the village elder to the group gathered….

* * *

It was so easy…

The Fire Daiymo was sitting down with the list of ninja to choose Tsunade's successor when he was interrupted with a loud crash.

"Alright you piece of shit!" I shouted to that old retarded looking guy with that fucked up hat. I held a large sword to the side of his neck. "You are going to name Naruto Uzumaki as the Hokage." I pressed the blade to his neck harder while he whimpered, causing a line of blood to appear on his neck. "NOW!"

The old man hurriedly wrote down the name and slipped it into the carrier hawk's message tube and cast the bird away. I smiled a toothy smile and turned away from him.

"I'll just r… revoke it later." He stuttered, trying to regain control of the situation. My grin still remained on my face as I spun around and instantly slit his throat with my sword. I whipped the sword through the air, cleaning the blade before sheathing it.

"You could try…"

* * *

It felt good to sit in the Hokage's chair and even better knowing that the daimyo wouldn't issue any orders to me. I smiled and spun around in my chair while laughing manically. Then I heard a knock at the door.

"Yeah!?" I shouted. In came Anko, my personal attaché. She was dressed in less clothing than during the chuunin exams and wore it well. "Is it done?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes sir, the Hyuuga have been eradicated."

"Excellent…" I started taping my fingers together in a calculating manner. "Excellent indeed…"


	9. Tale of the Forgetful Ninja

**Three years ago, everything changed. The future was bright, and the past became a faded memory all because of one thing; a wish came true for Naruto. From that day on, he looked to the future with a glimmer in his eye showing that he had found his way, his path through life. Following '_the event'_ he prepared himself; he started studying scrolls, books, and even, voluntarily, listened to some lectures. He was determined that he would be the best at all costs. He pushed aside many of his obnoxious ways and matured through his learning, becoming a better person, one even more focused on providing a better future for those around him.**

After his three years of preparation, he was finally done, he felt satisfied that he wouldn't screw up this important job, but aside from this confidence there was one thing that bothered him; he felt like he forgot something very, very important. Mo matter how much he tried to remember, nothing would come to him. He stood atop his father's head on the Hokage monument; his crystal _blue eyes_ staring across the newly rebuilt town, blonde hair rustling in the wind. The sun was just rising for the day, bringing in new life on the soothing morning wind.

"Today is the day." He declared with a glitter in his eye before he jumped off the mountain, sailing and falling to the ground with the widest grin humanly possible. This was going to be a great day…

* * *

"Today is the day." Sniffled the young blue haired girl with eyes reddened by the tears which stopped flowing some time ago. She splashed water on her face to hide the evidence of her sobbing and dressed for the day, a day she won't forget despite wanting to never remember.

For the past 3 years she steadily lost much of her confidence. She pushed herself for years, pushed herself to become someone she wouldn't be ashamed of, pushed herself to become someone who could protect those they loved. Everything was looking up after her heart felt confession until five days passed, then five months, followed by a year and still nothing; not even a word about that confession.

"Why, why couldn't he had said something." She mused sadly. "At the very least tell me you're not interested. Why leave me to wonder for so long?" She looked down at the elegant invitation she found on her sister's bed stand and tears began freely falling from her eyes again. She furiously wiped at them with balled up fists, but no matter how quickly she tried, the tears kept falling. She buried her face in her pillow and screamed as hard as she could.

"WHY!?" She just couldn't figure out why her sister had a card for the ceremony, but she never received one, was she that easily forgotten by him? That easily pushed to the side?

It was already hard enough to look at the man she loved just in passing. He always looked so happy when he passed by her; bright smile, squinting eyes, and that laughter which could melt her heart. Unfortunately she just felt more and more down when he wouldn't look at her directly or talk to her about what she said. She risked her life for him, he owed her at least a response. Whenever she decided to confront him about it, her heart would start to race uncontrollably, making it harder to breathe, choking her airways resulting in the impossibility of making a sound other than a squeak. The feeling was so horrible that she actually thought about never seeing him again, but no matter the situation, she still yearned to be by his side, constantly betrayed by the love she held.

"Why did I tell him those years ago? Why did I promise to be by his side? I was just asking to fail and go against my nindo. " Her eyes felt scratchy when the tears stopped flowing again. It had to be nearly a gallon that she had cried in the past years over one person not even acknowledging her feelings.

Her eyes burned as she dripped eye drops into those pearly orbs to try and reduce the redness. She thought about staying home today, but no matter how much it hurt, she still wanted to be there for him when he achieved something so important. No matter the cost to her psyche, she would be there. She slapped her face to bring her senses to life and banish her ill feelings and headed out of the Hyuuga complex, her head slumped in disgrace.

'It was only a matter of time now.' she thought while kicking a stray rock. 'I know my father will marry me off within a year without me even being noticed.'

* * *

"You ready?"

"Sure am baa-chan, I've waited for this day for so long." Naruto smiled as he threw on his long red and black jacket over a nice pair of black pants and a black shirt. The large busted woman smiled kindly as she looked his attire.

"You look just you father when he went through this ceremony." She ruffled his hair like he was still a kid while he smiled in the same manner.

"I hope that is a good thing." He laughed and turned to the door before looking over his shoulder. "I'll be good at this right?"

"You were made for it Naruto. You share the blood of the Yondaime, a natural leader." She assured gently. "We're all counting on you to be a model for the younger generation." He nodded in agreement and headed out the door.

* * *

Hinata was making her way through the village, watching her feet as she kicked at that small rock. She kept her head low so she wouldn't see the looks on the villagers face. They looked at her with such happiness that she could just disappear. She wanted to be happy, she really did, but for as much as he made her heart jump, he also broke it down to nothingness.

"Hinata-san; it's a beautiful day for a ceremony, right?" Asked a jolly villager walking by. She just shrunk down and nodded in agreement.

"Hinata-san, looking forward to seeing Naruto-san today?" Questioned another chipper villager. She nodded once more and hurried along on the edge of tears. 'Was it too much to ask to be left alone?' She sniffled and wiped the solitary tear from her cheek, hoping to not be reminded of that blonde man until she reached the event hall.

"Hinata-chan!" Screeched the duo running up to her side. Of all the people she could run into, it just had to be those two. They were both dressed nicely for the ceremony and were actively looking her over.

"You can't go dressed like that." Ino shouted, Sakura nodded and the both of them dragged Hinata away to Ino's house for a redo.

"Really, I know it's going to be a ninja ceremony and not formal, but you could at least dress it up a little bit. You're going to have at least one picture taken; when you look back, don't you think it would be better to look your best?" Ino grabbed at her hair while Sakura opened up her make up kit, but Hinata pulled away from them.

"I don't like looking that fancy… I want to look like me." She got up and headed for the door when Ino stood in her way.

"Well you could do a little something…" She looked around and saw a lavender flower in a vase, she grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped the stem. Taking the shortened flower, she tucked it over the Hyuuga's ear "There, that should do it." Sakura nodded in agreement, she still looked like Hinata, but just had that little extra flair. Hinata quickly escaped and continued on the way to the ceremony without even the slightest smile on her face.

* * *

The great hall was filled with Konoha ninja all clamoring for a seat. The Hyuuga were there in force, taking up a large portion of the hall with their numbers. Hinata quickly snuck into the hall and hid in the far corner to watch the ceremony. People continued filing in until there was barely any standing room left. She could see Naruto all gussied up in his jacket and so wanted to be near him, but knew she shouldn't be anywhere close; this was his day.

In front of him stood the Godaime Hokage, in her ceremonial robe, presiding over the special event. Tears trickled down her face as soft music started playing over the speakers. It was one of her favorite songs, a song that always made her think of him, but now it just seemed to mock her. The sadness started to overwhelm her small body; she had to get out of there. She watched as Naruto started looking around with a panicked look on his face, like he forgot something. He frantically looked over the packed hall, looking at various people who just shook their heads and shrugged their arms. His face fell until he saw Hinata hiding in the corner. For a moment she thought that his smile grew bright right as he looked at her, but decided the frown that quickly followed was the look meant for her.

"Crap, now I remember what I forgot!" Naruto shouted loudly. He nervously scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed of his forgetfulness. His face grew uncharacteristically red at the major fumble "I forgot to actually ask Hinata to marry me!"

The girl slumped in the corner, like a marionette with cut strings, while the entire hall could be heard clearly beyond Suna as they shouted in unison.

"WHAAAAT!?"

* * *

o

o

...Later


	10. When the Thunder Rolls

**When the Thunder Rolls**

* * *

A loud crack of thunder rumbled across the skies following an equally intense flash as electricity jutted across the darkening skies. The sun was blotted out just moments ago by the ominous clouds spanning across the skies. The light faded from his usually bright blue eyes, taking on a slightly grey tone while he stumbled back on his injured legs, but at least the battle was over. A loud rumbling rolled across the land followed by indiscriminate flashes of light behind him and another loud boom. A large group of ninja landed not more than 30 feet away from him, gasping at the nearly apocalyptic warzone centered on him and his three comrades.

The ground was scorched into nothing, stretching out in a 500m radius. Broken trees on the outskirts of ground zero were still smoldering, and a few places, towards the center, showed a surface not unlike cooled magma, steaming while the small droplets of rain started to beat down on the surface. There were a couple hundred weapons, cracked, broken, or otherwise made useless, scattered throughout the entire area, leading up to three bodies which had fallen unceremoniously to the ground in different quadrants.

The wind started to pick up with the ferocity of the rain, whipping up the yet to be drenched strands of pink hair. Her gasp could be heard in the complete silence while others watched. Naruto looked up and saw the sadness and helplessness on her face despite the hands covering over her lips in horror at the scene. A large bolt of lightning struck the ground in the distance, flashing clearly in her water covered green eyes… The sadness and pains of anger looked heightened in that odd flicker of light, and there was nothing he could do to fix it, what had been done was final. He couldn't look at anyone and turned away from the ninja legion, quickly leaping towards the still standing trees once at his back.

Sakura ran forward and fell to her knees at the side of a young dark haired man. Her tears were hidden with the falling rain cooling down her enraged face as she gazed at her fallen teammate; someone she knew she loved. Her head popped up when another large group of ninja landed to her left and got their first glance at the field. A set of worried pale eyes glanced past Sakura's saddened stare and her shoulders fell, followed by frantically looking in every direction.

"Where…" she mumbled with tears threatening to fall from her own eyes. Quickly she jumped in front of the three breathing ninja towards the center of the zone with an indiscriminate ninja at their feet.

"What happened, where's Naruto-kun?" Asked the faltering little voice, which was barely even audible.

"You know Naruto didn't fight like a _fool_, he beat them Uchiha like a blacksmith forging a _tool… _Oh, yeah!" Hinata didn't know what to think about the rhyming stylings of the dark skinned man, but let out a sigh, seeing how happy he was talking about Naruto's feat, proving that he was still alive. After recalling the scene she gazed upon, she realized why he wasn't there with sadness in her heart. He was hurt and saddened because he could only bring Sasuke back to Sakura in a body bag and couldn't face her, so he took off into the surrounding forest.

"Don't fret Hyuuga-san, his youthfulness is still strong." Groaned the man with torn green clothing. His left arm was dislocated and broken, but he still managed a pained smile and held up his barely working thumb on his right in an attempt to cheer up the distraught girl. She quickly shook her head to block out her emotions and focus on what they needed to do to provide help to their allies.

"Thank you Gai-san…" She muttered to him, so he would quit exerting himself. "We need medics!" She shouted towards the many ninja, knocking their gazes of wonder from their minds… there was still work that needed to be finished.

"Hinata…" Croaked a voice, bringing her attention to the silver haired jonin, who was unable to move from his spot on the ground. "As the commander of the front lines, I have one last order for you alone."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." She squeaked, followed by swallowing nervously as to what the order was.

"Tsunade used her remaining chakra to save the other Kage's lives at the cost of her own life, and Sasuke is dead by his hands…" Hinata's eyes went wide and she remained deathly silent while Kakashi continued. "… Stay out of sight and keep an eye on him, but do not make contact unless his life is in danger." Hinata gulped again and nodded her head.

There was really only one reason an order like this was ever given and she didn't want to believe he was even capable of _that_ action, but he just lost a mother figure and the one closest to being a brother… basically, with taking Jiraiya into account, he had lost his cobbled together family and was close to being completely alone once more, despite his valiant struggles.

"Mission accepted." She whispered with a bow.

She moved to give chase but was quickly blocked by that same bulky, rapping guy she met upon the field. He had a concerned look in his eye and made a point to keep her from passing, even when she tried to go around him.

"Can't let you through, cuz I don't know you."

"Huh?" His continually strange speech actually made Naruto look like an eloquent spokesperson in her opinion. He had a familiar presence, but didn't quite know who he was. "Excuse me." She quietly expressed her annoyance with a glare and tried once more to pass.

"That's not how I roll, Bakayarō! Konoyarō." The large man held out his fist, causing the small woman to take half a step back from his large mitt.

"I d… don't get it." She expressed with great confusion at his fist.

"Hold out your fist so I'll know… If you are his friend or a foe." It was at this point that she started to understand his speech a little bit and realized who he was. Always rhyming and acting strange, that was a signature of the one from Kumo, known as 'B' She slowly raised her small fist into the air towards him and remained motionless. Seeing this, B moved forward and lightly bumped his fist to hers.

She held a faint fear of the man looking at her without an ounce of trust and her size in comparison wasn't any help. Her fist barely covered his first two knuckles and she stood below shoulder height. Knowing who he was she had a slight idea as to why he didn't trust anyone since a jinchuriki always had trouble in that area.

"Oh, yeah!" He shouted suddenly, causing the dark haired girl to jump backwards in surprise. "You're a strange one, it's clear… Who'd you like to hold near. I saw you deep in his heart… in a group who'd never part." He took a step to the side, allowing the girl to pass without any hindrance and looked at her when she had yet to move. He nodded for her to go with a grin making her wonder just what that fist bump was since he almost instantly knew her without ever meeting her.

"What do you mean by saying you saw me?" She asked, letting her curiosity push her.

"I got a glimpse into his soul and I saw what he thought when you risked it all to protect that Bakayarō! Konoyarō." Hinata's face heated up as her cheeks flushed, knowing he saw that moment. She tried to hide her face as she finally passed him, jerking back up when a deafening crash of thunder startled everyone who were trying to set up a temporary shelter. While the rain fell increasingly harder, Hinata wiped the water from her brow and went in the direction which Naruto was seen leaving.

She rushed through the trees and activated her byakugan. She focused her sight to the direction of her travel and increased the rage until locking onto the fleeting form of the blonde jinchuriki. He was moving so quickly through the trees that in just keeping up with him was a task in and of itself for the young Hyuuga woman. The rain stung as the droplets hit her face as the speeds she was maintaining causing her to place her face into her anicubital space, more commonly referred as the inner side of the elbow, to shield from the rain.

Suddenly he stopped, making it much easier for her to catch up to him. She then stopped as well when she got close enough to stay out of his sight, but still close enough to make it to him almost instantaneously if she needed to. Settling down under a large tree, Hinata sat on the damp ground and leaned against the rough trunk, still keeping her eyes trained on Naruto.

The rain raged on throughout the country, violently shaking the trees and drenching the landscape. Naruto remained motionless, sitting in an open field with his head hanging low, water quickly rushing off his head. Another massive bolt of lightning shocked across the sky and he didn't even flinch even as the resounding rumble of the thunder shook the earth. It was heartbreaking for her to watch the person she loved wrestling with the events, causing him to fade into someone she had rarely seen.

His usually happy attitude was gone, his smile was gone, and his will to live was gone as well; which was the scariest thing she could have witnessed. Losing a father figure, a mother figure, a brother, and gaining the scorn of a woman he desired all in a few months' time would be enough to break anyone. Hinata knew this from her own battles in her heart and they weren't anywhere near as bad as his. She wanted so much to run out there and offer a shoulder for him, but without a doubt, he'd just wipe the sadness from his face and give that fake smile she abhorred. She loved every bit of him, except when he would hide from his feelings and push them down. As long as he was able to express his emotions freely, she would remain unseen to allow him to let it out, hopefully easing his pain.

The sun had completely retreated from the land, leaving a dark, nearly black environment in its place. The wind blew relentlessly against the protesting limbs high in the foliage while the sky continually let loose its moisture upon them. Naruto had yet to move from his position in the open field, making her mission become exponentially more uncomfortable. The cold wind whipping across her wet clothing caused her to start shivering. She tucked her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, locking in her body heat. Luckily she was still wearing her chuunin flak jacket, which helped to keep some of the weather at bay.

She started losing track of just how long she sat there with her byakugan trained on Naruto and cursed herself for that oversight. His form started getting blurry while a headache started forming at her temples. With another flash of lightening, she felt her eyes close as she was forcefully pushed into an unconscious state to replenish her spent chakra. The resulting thunder boomed, covering her fall to the forest floor.

A flash of brilliant electricity reflected off eyes that jolted open with the last roll of thunder. It wasn't the magnitude of the sound waves, but more the fading of something that caught his attention. He ran his hand through his dingy blonde hair, shaking off the moisture to stem the flooding of his eyes while slowly rising to his feet. Another deafening bang brought the rest of his tired conscience back to the world of the living and he became aware of his inhospitable surroundings.

The mature trees were waving violently while the smaller ones were nearly bent down to the ground from the large gusts of wind. Adding to tis violent nature, the sheets of rain kept his clothing soaked while he was struck with a few pellets of hail dropping from high altitude. He quickly decided that it was time to find shelter and made a dash towards a tree which appeared to give a natural break from the elements. While diving for cover with the next clap of thunder, he tripped over something on the ground, causing him to tumble forward and roll to a stop.

He looked back at the dark obstruction, wondering just what had hindered his movement until a flash of lightening illuminated the form of an indistinguishable person lying on the ground. After all the battlegrounds he fought in, death was a common sight, but it still wasn't easy. He stood up and walked to the body and nudged it with his foot. He let out a disappointed sigh when there was no reaction from the dark body. He didn't know why he felt disappointed, but thought that maybe it was because he wanted to talk with someone about his life. He turned away from the body and started walking away until a sneeze caused him to whip around.

"You alive?" He called out, earning no response. He walked back to the body and sat on his haunches and nudged the body with his hand. There was still no response, but he felt warmth from it; it was very faint but still existed… whoever they were, they were still alive, but if everything remained the same, they wouldn't be around much longer in the cold.

A few last drops of rain fell from the canopy as the downpour waned into nothingness. The violent wind raged onward, actually becoming more severe as time passed. Naruto sat next to the form on the ground trying to figure out what to do… After all the blood he saw shed upon the ground, he knew that he wanted to save at least another life.

"What am I going to do with you when I can't even see you?" He sighed and reached out to the outline of the body and ran his hand along it, noting the person had a small build and a chuunin style jacket. The clothing was drenched from the rain and was cold to the touch. He started rummaging through the different pockets on the jacket, finding nothing of much use until finding something that felt like a small flint in a pocket with a storage scroll of sorts.

"I hope this is what I think it is." He muttered while applying a small amount of chakra to the open scroll. Another flash of light in the distance illuminated the small pile of wood stored in the scroll. Pulling a kunai from his pouch, he struck it several times against the flint and lit the paper from the scroll on fire, slowly working the flame into the pile of dried wood. He leaned back with a sigh when the orange flames flickered to life on the wood pile, lightly illuminating the small shelter like grove of trees. With the little bit of light cast from the flame, he took a better look at the person on the ground and made a displeased sound when he saw her.

"I thought I felt someone following me…" He shivered when he removed his wet jacket and huddled closer to the fire to keep warm while his clothing was hung to dry.

"Man its cold out here…" He commented to himself, and then looked back over to Hinata, who had to be just as cold. "Silly girl." He commented with the makings of a small smile gracing his face. He propped up her body and unzipped her wet chuunin jacket and was glad to see that the clothes under it were mostly dry, but would soon not be with how badly the jacket was drenched. He emptied the pockets of the jacket on the ground and hung it to dry next to the burning fire. With the contents now spread into view, he found that Hinata was much more prepared than he was and had a few more useful items; mainly something dry for her to sleep on a some more wood for the fire.

"Alright sleeping beauty…" He rolled her onto the dry bedding laid out near the fire and sat down next to her, watching her sleep.

"It's kind of strange… I never get a chance to talk to you while you're conscious. You're always passed out." He told her, following up with a nervous chuckle. "I used to think you just had a weak constitution, but you were always so strong when you were awake that it just didn't fit. You made chuunin when I was gone and had many successful missions, yet I still only seem to get to see you when you're like this…" He sighed and fell to his back lying out next to her.

"Someday, I think I'd like to have a real conversation with you, like that time before the finals of the chuunin exam." He sighed again before noticing her body started shivering.

"Well, I guess I have a good excuse…" With a strange smirk he rolled closer to her and put an arm around her body, and pulled her cool form against his chest. The shivering almost stopped instantly as she was heated from the fire in front and bodily warmth from behind. Almost like he was waiting for a moment like this, he fell asleep despite not wanting to in his current position.

* * *

When morning spread across the forest, Hinata let out a weak groan while trying to wake up. She still felt weak from chakra exhaustion the night before and started to struggle against the weight of something on her.

"Akamaru… get off." She groaned, having been subjected to the large dog curling up with her on many occasions. She reached down and grabbed the infiltrator and suddenly became aware of the fact that it wasn't the dog. Her eyes snapped open and she cautiously turned her head until she saw who was holding her. She was met with the whiskered face of the man she confessed to a few months before. Her face heated up in an instant, turning a deep red before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

Naruto woke up with a relieved sigh when he noticed Hinata was still sound asleep. He never intended to sleep next to her like that, so he was happy he was going to be able to make his escape like nothing had ever happened. In a flash, he picked up his stuff from the area and escaped into the surrounding forest right as she started to stir.

She jolted upright the moment she became aware of her surroundings and looked frantically in every direction. Internally she was having a battle as to whether she actually saw him there with her or if it was just some figment of her imagination. She looked around and noticed her chuunin jacket was hung up to dry next to a pile of smoldering ashes from a fire. It was obvious someone was there and helped her last night, so it would seem it wasn't just her imagination. Picking up all her supplies, she threw the jacket back on and activated her eyes before taking off in the direction she saw Naruto.

The saddened blonde was sitting on the bank of a wide stream, flowing away from a picturesque waterfall. Hinata soon became intrigued by his expression, it was nowhere near as pain filled as the one he had last night. It was more like he was thinking about something which eluded him while he looked at the water. She was quite enamored by his gaze that she almost jumped when she saw his gaze turn to her. She was sure he was looking right at her, yet it was impossible from where she was hiding for him to sense her at all. Even more confusing was when he started making a gesture for her to come to him.

"I could use someone to talk to Hinata." He called out, earning a tiny squeak from the hiding girl. "Come on, I know you're there." He heard some rustling of leaves and saw the girl appear in her full battle attire. He smiled at her causing her to falter; it was a genuine smile and not some cover-up.

"Good morning Naruto-kun." She greeted with a shy smile joining her usual flushed cheeks.

"Good morning Hinata; sleep well?" This caused her face to turn a darker shade of red while she looked away, causing him to chuckle at her behavior. "Could you sit a talk with me for a while?" He asked, with a face overflowing with a sudden sadness.

"I would do a-anything for you." She replied before taking up the spot next to him.

"Yeah, about that… don't risk your life for me anymore. I don't deserve it."

"That's not true!" She shouted, much louder than he thought she could, and the tone was solid, not wavering like her usual unsure speech.

"Why Hinata? Why is my life so important? All these people died in this war which was done to stop the Akatsuki by protecting me. I don't get it."

"I don't understand it either." Hinata suddenly had blue eyes trained upon her after hearing something out of the norm. "You have something that makes us want to share in your world. Shikamaru would barely come to class at the academy and now he's determined to do his best for his Hokage."

"But she's gone now." He reminded. She just shook her head.

"Not that Hokage…" She whispered while starting to lose her conviction.

"Wait, what?"

"You want to know why we want to protect you? It's because somewhere during your path from the dead last to now, we all started sharing your dream. We want to protect our future Hokage."

"Are you saying that you guys believe I'll be Hokage? I don't believe it."

"I did… From the time we were strangers and I saw your conviction I believed you wouldn't stop. Seeing you those times was what gave me the strength to adopt your nindo to try and become someone that would reach their goals no matter what… I always loved that about you."

Naruto sighed once more and stared off at the waterfall in a dazed look. He tried to comprehend what she was saying but it didn't help and he was last as to what to say about what she told him. Of course he had just about enough of being down and a mischievous smirk went to his face.

"Hey Hinata."

"Yes?"

"Since we're here at this waterfall again…" He paused so he could see her face and what was going to start as a simple joke just escalated when her eyes suddenly showed recognition of where they were, confirming his suspicions.

"So it was you!?" He shouted and was now looking at her incredulously. She started blushing and playing with her fingers like when she was younger.

"I… um…"

"You're mean Hinata! I couldn't stop thinking about that girl for all these years. She was the one that made me realize how plain Sakura was."

"I… I… I" She couldn't come up with anything to say and just stammered before passing out; falling onto his shoulder.

"Well, that's one mystery solved…" He commented before pulling her body closer and held her caringly. "I hope what you said to me, when you nearly died, was true, because I'm going to need your love more than imaginable in the future." He smiled once more just by looking at her. His problems with the war were replaced by thoughts of her and he knew there was nothing that could stop him now. He grabbed her firmly and hoisted her up and headed back to where the rest of his comrades were waiting.


	11. NijuSen

**NijuSen**

* * *

He looked out over the world; everything was perfect. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the wind tickled his nose. It was turning out to be another very great day. He watched the country laid out before him, continuing on in life, not even knowing they were being watched. It was amusing; seeing the young children happily playing in the streets, recognizing a few of their parents from their visit to the local shrine. This was what he enjoyed the most, seeing people exceedingly happy. He grinned wide and drifted further along until he heard the faint sound of whimpering coming from outside the village.

"Tears in Konoha… There shouldn't be any tears here." He took off in search of the source of the sound.

Miles outside of the village, there was a small woman, in her late twenties, sitting on a log at the bank of a small, swift river. Her eyes sparkled like a pearl lying just beneath the ocean's surface. Those beautiful orbs were flooded with the tears falling from her flawless porcelain like skin, splashing down onto the green grass below. She wore a pale yellow sundress rippling in the breeze, a look that was truly astonishing on her petite body. Her light whimpering led into a sorrowful wail while she buried her face into her hands, her long dark hair spilling over the edges of her dainty fingers.

She briefly looked up when she heard rustling leaves and quiet yipping heading in her direction. Through her water blurred vision, she watched two stark white fox kits chasing each other in circles, heading towards the river. Her sobbing stopped while she watched the playful animals rolling in the grass. She was beginning to forget the reason for her tears when a group of ten large white full grown foxes passed in front of her, causing her to freeze up at the unusual sight. They were much bigger than a normal fox; making her wonder if it was her imagination or something from another world. They slowly walked to the river, paying no attention to the crying woman, and started lapping at the water. It was a rare sight to see one white fox, but twelve were unbelievable.

Thud… Thud… Thud…

She started to shiver at the sudden shaking of the ground, wondering just how much stranger her day dream was going to become. The earth shook violently with each rhythmic sound, reaching closer and closer with each step. She was still looking towards the river, too afraid to look behind her for the sound of footsteps for fear that shed pass out from fear.

Thud… Thud… Thud…

A shadow was soon cast over the young woman and she nearly did pass out when she saw a giant red paw pass over her head, slamming onto the river bank. She was so frightened that she couldn't even think anymore after seeing the huge red fur covered body blocking out the sun above her. The massive fox leaned over the river and lapped at the water with its huge tongue.

"Hey, were you crying?" The girl shrieked as she turned and saw a blonde man looking at her with a smile while sitting on the same log. She looked into his blue eyes and immediately blushed at how close he was and scooted further down the log. "What were you crying about?" he inquired.

"Who… Who are you?" She asked, unsure of how he was able to approach without her sensing it.

"Umm…" He started with a nervous laugh. "How about Naruto, yeah, Naruto is a good name."

"Are you kidding?" She laughed with a brilliant smile. "You're named after a fish paste?"

"I… I am not!" He shouted, looking away from her with a fake pout on his face. "They were named after me." The pale eyed woman laughed so hard that she fell off the log, giggling all the way to the ground.

"Well, at least you're not crying anymore." Naruto smiled at the giggling ball on the ground and held out his hand for her. "What's your name?" She looked up at him, still giggling, and grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her back up to the log.

"It's Hinata, Hyuuga Hinata." Her laughing calmed down and was soon replaced by a faint blush on her cheeks from him holding her hand longer than necessary. She was seated on the log again, although now sitting quite a bit closer than previously. She shyly looked over to the blonde and couldn't help but smile after seeing his expression while watching the 2 white kits played in the field.

"Um…" Hinata broke the silence, gaining the attention of the blonde. "The foxes?"

"Oh, they're my friends. Kurama, say hi to the beautiful lady." She would have blushed at the compliment had it not been for the huge red fox's face closing in on the tiny woman. She could feel her hair flowing toward the powerful inhalation as the large fox sniffed her.

"That's enough Kurama." Naruto ordered. The large fox turned back and playfully curled up next to the river while the white foxes were scattered around the large clearing, foraging in the bushes.

"Do you like foxes?" He asked, seeing her watchful gaze.

"They're cute." She replied while intently watching the little ones. He held out his hand over Hinata's lap and made a clicking noise, causing the two kits to run up and jump onto her. They started licking at her face while she giggled. "Stop, get them to stop." She begged while being licked mercilessly.

"Alright, that's enough… I'm starting to get jealous of you guys." The little kits yipped and took off playing again.

"Feeling better Hinata?"

"Actually I'm doing great now that you're here." She was completely embarrassed and bright red. She couldn't believe what she had just said; no one had ever made her feel like that. She was purposefully looking away from him when she felt a hand brush across her back.

"Care to share what had you upset?" Her smile faded as she was reminded of her sadness, but this guy, which she barely even knew, made her feel comfortable enough to spill her guts to him. She turned to him and gave the tiniest of nods.

"My family has been after me to hurry up and get married. I'm approaching thirty very soon and they want grandchildren, but I just can't put up with all the guys in my village. The few guys I have even a shred of an interest in, end up being losers, creepy or both. Since I haven't been able to marry on my own; my father decided to force me into marriage with his own choice."

"Just tell him no if it makes you so upset." He offered like it was a simple decision.

"I… I can't… It's…"

"Well, sucks to be you." Hinata gasped in astonishment and looked hurt at his reply to her story.

"You're just as mean as the others." She stood up and ran away with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Wait." Naruto called out to her retreating form. He chased after her and caught her in a tight hug. She whimpered in his strong arms, struggling to get free. "I didn't mean it like that." He assured her. Her struggling stopped and turned around to search his gaze for a lie.

"How did you mean it then?" She sniffled.

"I'm kind of known as a trickster, so it was a joke to lighten the heavy mood. " She looked in his blue eyes and just had to smile. He grinned back at her and gently wiped away the tears on her cheeks, replacing them with blushing skin.

"You're still beautiful when you cry, but I like it better when you don't." She nodded while holding back her tears, then buried her face into his chest while returning the hug. When she opened her eyes, she was standing on the riverbank with her arms wrapped around herself. There no sign of the foxes, and no sign of Naruto. Her eyes started to water again when she saw the field, devoid of any life.

"I wish you were real and not a dream." She whispered into the wind before reluctantly making her way home

* * *

3 months later

* * *

It was another perfect day, the sun was bright and there were no clouds in the air. A large group was gathered in an equally massive courtyard. The place was decorated without a single respect for costs and looked magnificent.

"Do I really have to do this father?" Hinata asked. Her hair was pulled up with delicate spiral curls hanging down, brushing the tops of her shoulders. She was wearing a beautiful white multilayer kimono and was refusing to go out to the crowd.

"We've gone over this many times before Hinata; don't disgrace our family any more than you have already." She looked down and had a tear creep up and had to try and blink it away to avoid being scolded about messing up her expensive makeup.

"I understand…" Her father, Hiashi, smiled at her and pushed her out the door into the courtyard where the music started up.

"I wish you were real Naruto…" She sniffled to herself while walking down the aisle. "If you were, I'd wish for it to be you." She continued down the aisle and arrived at the front where her soon to be husband was standing with a perverted grin on his face. Oh how she hated that look. She saw it numerous times while walking through the village; each one eying her like a piece of meat. A single tear rolled down her cheek when she finally let the realization hit her, she was going to be married to that guy and have all sorts of things done to her afterwards.

"Didn't I say I liked it better when you didn't cry?" said a voice as a hand appeared to wipe away the single tear. Hinata gasped and turned to see that wonderful blonde man standing next to her with a bright grin. The moment she grabbed him in a loving embrace, her betrothed was angered along with her family.

"What is the meaning of this!? Demanded Hiashi while approaching the intruder with a glimmer of malice in his eyes.

"I have decided to grant Hinata's wish. I'm taking her away from here." He told the crowd with conviction. Hinata held to his side with a happy smile and refused to let go, even if it was another dream.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Hiashi demanded.

"Me? I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He put his arm around the small woman and headed out of the courtyard.

"You can't take her." Hiashi ordered while stamping the floor for emphasis. "What right do you have to take my daughter?" The blonde turned to Hiashi with his own frightening glare.

"When you couldn't conceive, you promised to bring your child happiness if only you could just have one… The wish I granted is now hers to fulfill since you proved to not hold up your end… Hinata, if you go with me, there is one stipulation… you can't come back." Hinata looked at her father, then back at Naruto. It would be difficult to leave her family behind but it was better than the alternative.

"I'm sorry father, I'm going with Naruto." She pushed Naruto around her father who had yet to come to terms with her defiance and that forgotten request he made years ago at a small shrine outside of the village. Before reaching the end of the courtyard, she turned back and looked at the beautiful decorations. "It is a shame all this is wasted…"

"Not entirely…" Naruto leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, reveling in the softness of her flesh. He pulled back and could only smile at her blushing face "It really was your wedding…"

The bright sky overhead opened up, pouring rain onto the courtyard, eliciting shouts from the audience. The couple turned back towards the exit and saw two rows of white foxes sitting perfectly on opposite sides of the path. When they stepped outside, Kurama was lying on the ground, waiting for them to climb on top.

"The foxes and Kitsune no yomeiri… Is Naruto really your name?" Hinata asked when she sat on the giant red fox's head, suddenly aware of just who this person could have been.

"It was once." He replied with a happy grin while sitting next to her. Kurama stood and took off running, surprising Hinata with the acceleration.

"It wasn't always? Come on, I'd like to know who I'm spending the rest of my life with." Naruto put his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly.

"There's no need to rush Hinata, you won't be dying this time." He laughed when he saw her questioning look. "I have the power to bring one person to live with me for eternity. I've waited 20,000 years for you to be reborn so I could do just that."

"Who are you?"

"I believe you guys now call me… Inari Ōkami." He laughed at her astonished face before kissing her once more, happy that he could find love after becoming one with the Kyuubi many millennia ago.


	12. Good Morning Konoha

Just a little something I whipped together (with a little groundhogs day flavor)... Hope you enjoy

story takes place in the canon timeline at about the point Fukasaku trains Naruto in Sage arts.

* * *

Good Morning Konoha!

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…" Naruto groaned and hit the snooze button. He wasn't too sure about how he liked waking up to 'Konoha Radio', but it wasn't like this was his living quarters, just a temporary place until he can find an apartment again. It had been a few, actually many, months after his return with Jiraiya and it was of no real surprise that his old apartment complex was torn down just weeks after leaving those many years ago. Since life had been busy with chasing down Gaara, the Akatsuki, and developing a forbidden jutsu resulting in his hospitalization for a long few months, there had been little need for a permanent place to live.

Naruto sat up in his bed and ruffled his hair with a yawn. The inn he was staying in after making it out of the hospital was on the edge of modern technology and while it was fun, it just didn't have a feeling like you belonged there. Because of this, today was the day he was going to set out and find a new place to live.

The deep pile of the carpet pressed between his toes as he headed for the bathroom. He cranked on the hot water and let the steamy spray was away his sleepy visage, returning him to his usual energetic one. Within a few minutes the water suddenly turned cold which resulted in a fast path to getting dressed. Since the forecast for the day was to be abnormally warm, he opted to forgo the orange jacket and stuck with his black T-shirt and usual pants. He stepped out of the inn and breathed in the fresh warm air, stretching his arms outward.

Looking out across the bustling city, everyone was going about their daily business. An old lady was struggling to pick up some baskets which were knocked over at her stand and the other villagers were scampering around to purchase many other items. It was pretty much a normal day in Konoha.

"Let's go!" He suddenly shouted and headed out into the village.

Since the years of his training, there was considerably less degrading comments being thrown around upon his return, which made shopping a much easier task. This was a very good development for him, but there were still a few of them haunted by the October 10th attack.

Early in life it was very troubling thing to experience, but when taking the perspective of those grieving their losses, he couldn't find it in his heart to hold it against them… He just wished that they could have been able to stand in his shoes for a while.

Shaking off the negative thoughts he headed to the local bulletin board to check on possible places to live. There were only a small handful of places within his meager price range, since a stipend for a genin wasn't much to throw around. He headed to the first address on the list, but quickly threw that one out as it was his previous landlord who was running it, and he never liked that old hag.

The second apartment on the list was obvious as to why it was vacant; it was next to the new village trash incinerator. He quickly scratched that one off the list and headed for the third one. He had a good feeling about this one, but the address seemed familiar. He couldn't quite place it and continued towards the address on his piece of paper.

"Oh hey; it's Naruto." Greeted a feminine voice when he stopped right in front of the building on his list.

'Now I remember this address.' He thought to himself and had to figure a way out of renting that one.

"Hey Ino." He returned with a small wave. Of course the address was that of the Yamanaka flower shop and the apartment was the small room above the shop. He let out a sigh and crossed that one off the list. It wasn't that he disliked Ino, actually she was pretty hot, but it was more the idea of doing business with friends and their family… Well that and Ino's mom liked to yell and she was very good at it.

"So what are you doing today?" She inquired. She flipped her long blonde hair and gave a flirtatious smile. She was like that with nearly everyone and it caused many issues with guys and many of their wives, but she enjoyed the attention.

"I was…" He had to quickly think of a lie since if he told the truth, he knew she'd offer their apartment and he always had troubles saying no to a friend.

"I was just looking around. I never really noticed how much has changed around here. I came back just to take off fighting enemies and never stopped to look."

"Oh, that makes sense. I should have guessed that since it had to take forever to come up with that Jutsu. Man that guy was so strong that it took all of us to fight him and you come along and hit him with one jutsu and level him… It's just too bad you can't throw that shuriken thing."

"Yeah, I'm working on it, but I was ordered to take a day off, so…"

"So you're free today?" She inquired while leaning closer to him.

"Pretty much."

"Well, if you'd like I could show you the big changes around town. Mom is taking over here around lunch."

"Well you know me, a free spirit, I can't predict where I'll be by then, but if I'm close I may take you up on that offer."

"Sure, you bet!" She chirped. Naruto waved goodbye and headed into the village.

'That was strange…' He thought. Sure she was always flirtatious, but that was a little more than usual. He shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the sheet of paper.

"Three left…" He muttered.

The next two he inquired about had been filled the previous day which left the last one. He grinned when he noticed that this apartment complex was right across the street from Sakura's place. He quickly imagined about all the run-ins he was sure to experience and hoped for his imagination to come to fruition. He hurriedly ran up to the office when he saw an older guy stepping out of the door.

"Thanks for taking the last of the rentals!" Called out a voice from inside the apartment office. The man stopped and turned back with a smile and waved. Naruto sighed, he was just a little too late.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura hollered as she ran up to him from across the street. His head was down and had a depressed aura about him. She tilted her head in wonder as to what was getting the usually happy guy down.

"Not now Sakura-chan…" He groaned as he walked away, dejected. "I guess I get to live in a trash heap after all…" He muttered and took off in a run to avoid looking at the pink haired girl.

* * *

He grumbled a few choice swear words as he used the keys to enter his new apartment; the odor was appalling. The trash incinerator next door was quite odoriferous, but the alternatives weren't really much of an alternative. He looked at the clock on the wall and sighed, it was now past lunch and he couldn't even salvage a tour through town with a hot chick so there was only one thing left to do… eat lots of ramen. He slammed the door and rushed to his favorite spot which would always bring a smile to his face.

"Hey Old man, It's been a bad day." Naruto announced when he arrived in the ramen stand. Teuchi turned with his always kind smile and wiped his hands with a towel.

"Well then I've got your medicine right here." He told him while he started dishing up a bowl for the ninja.

Naruto's smile started coming back to life at the scent of his precious ramen. It never failed to turn a bad day better. Not more than a few seconds passed from the time the large bowl contacted the counter to when it was completely drained to be replaced by another; an action repeated more than a few times. After having his fill of his 'liquid gold' he waddled out of the ramen stand, holding his swollen stomach with one hand and waving a thank you to Teuchi with the other.

While he was walking backwards to wave, and not paying attention to where he was going, he bumped into someone small. The sound of the high pitched squeak and crashing of objects afterwards brought his attention around to someone huddled on the ground scrambling to pick up items that fell from a dropped picnic basket.

"Sorry, you're not hurt are you?" He asked as he picked up a partially empty lunch box and held it out to the fallen girl.

"No, Naruto-kun…" She didn't turn to face him and grabbed the box and stuffed it in the picnic basket and took off in a sprint without even turning to allow the blonde to see who it was.

"Wait!" He shouted out to the retreating girl.

"That was Hinata, wasn't it?" He asked himself. He blinked while looking in the direction she vanished in before shrugging and standing.

"Well, I guess it is about 3:00 now… What's next?" He started off in whatever direction he was pointed while thinking of everything he needed to do before the next day. There was buying food for the kitchen, maybe just canned and instant food since he wasn't much for cooking and who knows when he'd be called for a mission. Then there is the thing about furniture and other living items like towels and other hygiene products… He just let out a sigh, there was just too many things to worry about and decided to take them one item at a time…

'Or maybe one day at a time.' He thought after leaving a furniture store still in sticker shock.

With all the displays in that store, it was a learning experience to actually see how other people would decorate the different rooms. There were some things he never even thought existed being used in decorations. He spent many minutes looking things over until he noticed that the number on the items were actually the price and not a stocking number. Nothing like having an extra zero over what he thought.

He was now sprawled out in the center of the park, enjoying the warmth of the sun, since he knew that was free. It was so soothing and comfortable there that he managed to fall asleep in the sun. Hours went by and the sun was starting to set when the blonde finally woke. He stretched his arms and sat up. When he rubbed his eyes there was a dull pain on the surface of his skin. Looking down he realized just how long he was out in the sun, his arms were bright red.

"Great, a sunburn… just my luck. I knew I should have worn sunscreen today." He cursed the fact that he wore short sleeves instead of his usual fare. He looked around a bit at the setting sun and let out a yawn before heading back to his new apartment. There was nothing there, but he didn't care and planted himself in the center of the carpet and fell asleep again.

* * *

Day 2

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…" Naruto groaned and hit the snooze button. He instantly sat up and looked around the room.

"What… what the hell was that?" he wondered while blinking his eyes. He thought that he had grasped something weird, but the feeling faded as his feet hit the plush carpet. His memories faded just like a dream and decided to treat them as such. Once showered and dressed for the day, he stepped outside and inhaled the air. Looking out at the villagers, he was having a strange feeling…

"Déjà vu?" He wondered…

He watched the old lady out front trying to pick up a stack of baskets that seemingly fell over from her stand and the various other villagers about their day of shopping. Cautiously he turned away from the scene and slowly headed for the bulletin board. He slowly took down the addresses of the vacant apartments in his price range and each and every one of them were familiar to him but couldn't place where he knew them from.

He was starting to get really suspicious by the time he left the apartment with the trash incinerator next door. His eyes were slightly glazed over while he tried to pry into the constant feeling he was having while continuing down the street. He didn't know where he was headed until a voice rang out.

"Oh hey; it's Naruto." His eyes instantly came back to life as he started into the blonde woman's eyes.

"Hey Ino." He greeted cautiously.

"So what are you doing today?" Naruto watched closely as she flipped her long blond hair and gave a flirtatious smile

"I was…" He paused while thinking about the conversation. He never had the best memory of things, but this time he knew a conversation like this has happened before.

"I was just looking around? Didn't we have this conversation before?"

"Uh, no… I don't think we've really talked much, especially since it had to take forever to come up with that Jutsu. Man that guy was so strong that it took all of us to fight him and you come along and hit him with one jutsu and level him… It's just too bad you can't throw that shuriken thing."

"Yeah, I'm working on it, but I was ordered to take a day off, so…" He faded out again; this definitely were words he used before, but when and to whom?

"So you're free today?" She asked.

"Pretty much."

"Well, if you'd like, my Mom is taking over around lunch and we could chat a little more. I'd like to know more about that jutsu of yours."

"Yeah, well… I might take you up on that if I'm free. You know how I am, you never know what I'll be doing in an hour." She giggled and nodded.

"Sure, if you find yourself free around then, just stop by."

"Yeah, ok." He waved and headed back out into the village with even more thoughts hanging on his mind.

"This is nuts…" He muttered while walking down the road and thinking about the strange course of events. The next two apartments on his list were already filled, and he had a feeling that they would be, and then he approached the last apartment. An older guy was stepping out of the door when he got there.

"Thanks for taking the last of the rentals!" Called out a voice from inside the apartment office. The man stopped and turned back with a smile and waved. Naruto cursed under his breath; he knew that would happen.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura hollered as she ran up to him. His face wrinkled up in confusion of the events. She tilted her head in wonder as to what was bothering him.

"Not now Sakura-chan…" He groaned as he walked away. "I just don't get it." He muttered over and over while shaking his head.

* * *

"Hey old man! I need some thinking food."

"Well then you came to the right place." He replied while wiping his hands on a towel. Naruto mindlessly thought as he went through bowl after bowl, still not coming up with an plausible answer. Once he was completely stuffed, he decided his mind wasn't going to cooperate and decided to take his leave from the ramen stand.

"Thanks and come back anytime." Teuchi called out.

"Yeah, you know I will." He replied while turning to wave.

Once again he was not paying attention to where he was going, and he bumped into someone small. The sound of the high pitched squeak and crashing to the ground brought his attention around to Hinata huddled on the ground scrambling to pick up items that fell from the dropped picnic basket.

"Sorry, Hinata, you're not hurt are you?" He asked as he picked up a partially empty lunch box and held it out to the fallen girl.

"No, Naruto-kun…" She didn't turn to face him and grabbed the box and stuffed it in the picnic basket and took off in a sprint.

"Wait Hinata!" He shouted out to the retreating girl.

"What is with that girl?" He wondered and headed off towards the park. He sprawled out again to think about what happened that day. It was about 3:00 when he felt himself drifting off. Suddenly he sat up, almost remembering something and realized that many hours had passed and it was nearing sunset. He looked down at the red hued skin and sighed.

"Another Sunburn?" He recalled just having one… "Wasn't that today? Yesterday?" Naruto stood and walked back into the heart of the village. He still didn't have an apartment to sleep in so he was headed back to the inn when he saw Lee come running up to him.

"Naruto-kun!" He shouted in his overly energetic voice.

"Hey Lee." He replied, now letting his thoughts about the repeated day fade since this seemed completely new, so it just had to be his over active imagination.

"It's been a long time since we all got together as a group, So I was thinking we should all hit the bathhouse tonight…"

"Nice Idea Lee, but I don't think this sunburn will go very well with the hot bath water."

"I suppose you are right… Perhaps another time?"

"Perhaps…" Lee gave a quick thumbs up and took off down the road doing backflips. He had a quick chuckle to go with the boy's usual antics before heading into the inn and crashed face forward on the bed, quickly falling back asleep.

* * *

Day 3

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…" Naruto groaned and hit the snooze button. He instantly sat up and looked around the room. He looked down at his skin and didn't see the slightest hint of a sunburn from the previous day.

"This… You're kidding right?" He asked himself before jumping to his feet. He ran across the soft carpet and whipped the door open and looked into the streets of Konoha. He let out a relieved sigh when everything looked different from what he remembered.

"Thank god…" He muttered. For a moment he thought he was going crazy. He turned and entered the Inn, but just before he closed the door, he saw two kids tossing a ball back and forth across the street. It wasn't an unusual thing, but what seemed strange was the one boy was headed straight for the baskets the old lady was selling. The boy stumbled and crashed into the baskets on display and sent them tumbling to the ground. Naruto stared at the scene unfolding. There were three stacks of baskets knocked over and the old lady picked up the first two before starting to struggle on the last one and it all hit him.

"No fucking way!" She was struggling to pick up the baskets while everyone else went on their way. Naruto blinked once and then rubbed his eyes. This time he knew it wasn't a simple case of déjà vu, it was a complete repeat of the day. He quickly tossed on some clothes and ran out the door, bolting straight down the road and stopping outside the apartment building next to Sakura's. He walked into the office and looked at the person behind the counter.

"Do you have any vacancies?"

"Why yes we do, one just opened today. Will this be cash or drawn directly from your stipend?"

"Stipend."

"Perfect… Would you like to see the property?"

"Nah, I'm sure it'll be fine. Better than sleeping outside." The older guy smiled and chuckled.

"Indeed it is… This is your key and should you have any issues with it, let me know right away.

"Sure thing." He replied while taking the key. He grinned happily and made his way to the door.

"Oh, and thanks for taking our last vacancy."

"Yeah… you're welcome." Naruto stepped out the door right as an old man came to enter. The blonde held the door open for the guy with a teasing grin. That was the same guy he saw previously walk out of the office with the key.

"Well, maybe this is my lucky day." He clenched the key tight and hurried to take a look at the place.

The door stuck a little bit and he had to give it a shove before it opened fully. He smiled when he saw the place. He didn't remember seeing in the listing the fact that it was already furnished, but there it was, couch, end tables, kitchen table and even what looked like a brand new mattress on the bed. The place was just perfect. He happily locked up the door and headed out to get the place stocked.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura hollered as she ran up to him while he was stepping away from the apartment building.

"Hey Sakura-chan." He greeted happily.

"What's gotten you so happy today?"

"Well, I just got around to getting an apartment today. It's been quite a few months since I returned and needed a place to call my own."

"Really? That's cool. Where at?"

"Right here." He commented while pointing at the building behind him.

"So we'll be neighbors, kind of…" She commented. Her voice kind of started trailing off at the end indicating something was not right with her.

"Yeah, I guess… Is there a problem?"

"Eh, not really. I was out looking to move out" The older guy he beat to the apartment just then stepped out of the office with a disappointed look and shook his head.

"Oh, there's my dad… I should go." The pink haired kunoichi ran up to the older guy and walked away mirroring the guy's disappointed look.

"Maybe luck _isn't_ on my side…" He sighed and headed off for ramen.

* * *

"Hey, old man something weird happened to me today. I think I'm losing it."

"Kid, with the way you go through ramen, I'd say you've already lost it…"

"Maybe… got anything to fix it?"

"Sure do… It's called the best ramen in the world." The man wiped his hand on a towel and set in preparing the shinobi's late lunch. Once again, Naruto was stuffed full and he waved to Teuchi, but decided to head left instead of right while waving. Right as he moved to face forward, he ran into a head of dark hair. The girl stumbled to the ground and had picnic items rolling on the road.

"Sorry Hinata, I should have been paying more attention." He thought that it was quite strange that he turned the opposite direction from the previous encounter, but still managed to hit the petite girl.

"It's ok Naruto-kun… I wasn't paying attention either." She quickly snatched the box he was holding in his hand and quickly took off with a dark red color on her cheeks.

"Well… that was the same at least." Naruto told himself and headed towards a different park than before. He sat down on the park bench with a sigh, then soon fell on his side. That was the problem with eating too much… you always needed a nap. His eyes closed while thinking of all the strange things he encountered recently.

* * *

Day 4

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…" Naruto jumped to his feet in a panic and hit the snooze.

"What the holy hell?" He shouted while determining his location. Once again he was back in the room at the inn with the long fibers of the luxurious carpet crushed under his feet.

"Where did the rest of that day go?" He asked himself while simultaneously realizing there was a bigger problem at hand… He was back where he started again. He ran to the door and sure enough, those little kids where throwing the ball and knocked over the old lady's baskets. He quickly slammed the door and leaned up against it.

"I think… I think I need to test this…" He quickly gathered his clothes and took off into the village.

"Oh hey; Naruto!" Shouted a lively voice flagging him down.

"Hey Ino." He greeted after coming to an abrupt stop in front of the flower stand.

"So where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I was…" He paused while thinking about what to say.

"I was looking for Lee. He was thinking of getting everyone together for a trip to the bathhouse… well the guys anyways."

"Hey, that sounds like fun… Maybe I can get the girls together as well. Anyways, are you doing anything for lunch? My mom will be taking over for me around then and I'd like to hear more about that jutsu of yours.

"You know… I just might be free today."

"Great! Come back around noon."

"Noon, got it." Naruto made a quick wave and headed towards the apartment by Sakura's. He rushed into the building and snagged the key to the place before heading out the door, and right on cue, Sakura showed up after her dad entered the complex.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura hollered as she ran up to him while he was stepping away from the apartment building.

"Hey Sakura-chan." He greeted happily.

"What's gotten you so happy today?"

"Just this." He commented while jingling the key in front of her.

"Keys to an apartment?"

"Yeah, I heard you were looking for an apartment of your own near your parent's house and when such a steal as this one showed up, I had to come by early to make sure you got it. This thing is awesome; it's all furnished and everything."

"Really?" She asked. He nodded and handed the key to her. "I'll come by and see how the move is going a little later."

"That's… that is almost too thoughtful." She commented. He just smiled and started back towards the Yamanaka flower shop. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Sakura's smile… That definitely made her day.

* * *

He showed up at the flower shop right at noon and was met with a smiling Ino. She was dressed in an outfit just a little more alluring than usual… actually the proper term would be skimpy.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

"Sure; where would you like to go?" He asked.

"Really? I get to choose? I thought you'd drag me to Ichiraku's."

"Well, that is a choice if you'd like, but I can go a day without."

'Actually I've already had four days' worth of stuffing myself.' He thought to himself

"Nah, that's not my thing. There's this top notch sushi bar around the corner, is that good?"

"Sure, why not." He relented easily. They started walking to the restaurant when Ino stepped closer and placed her hand on his arm so he could lead her properly. This was intriguing to him, so he just went with it.

They had a pleasant time chatting about his jutsu and other aspects of being a ninja and when it came time to leave and the check was sitting there, Naruto stood up and doled out his portion on the table. He then heard Ino grumble something and threw her portion on the table and stormed out of the restaurant right by him.

"What was that?" He wondered while stepping out of the restaurant. He looked down the street at Ino's retreating body and shrugged. He stepped backwards and turned right into someone, knocking them to the ground. He looked down and saw an overturned picnic basket.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?" She just stood while shaking her head and took off down the road without her basket.

"Hey! Hinata!?" He called out with no results.

"That girl…" He commented while picking up the items that fell to the ground. This was the first time that he actually got to see the entire contents of the basket. There was actually quite a lot packet into that basket. He looked at it once more and shook his head.

"How can she eat this much?" He stood up with the basket in his hand and headed out after her since she forgot her lunch. Hours went by as he scoured the village for that girl but came up with nothing, it was almost like she completely disappeared. He sat down on a bench with a sigh.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted while skidding to a stop in front of him.

"Hey Lee."

"I was thinking…"

"Bathhouse?"

"Yes! Our youthful minds are on the same track. We're heading in at about 6:00."

"Ok, I'll be there."

"Great!" After the usual thumbs up, lee took off running on his hands. Naruto stood and decided to drop the basket off at her house since he was having difficulty finding her. It had been quite some time since he walked to the Hyuuga Manor and although the place looked smaller than he remembered, it was still and amazing piece of real estate. Knowing how the Hyuuga were, he just set the basket by the entrance and retreated from the building. There was about an hour to go before the meeting time, but he was also on the other side of the village and needed to get going.

"Shikamaru! Hey." He shouted when his friend turned a corner and came into view.

"What's up Naruto?" Ha asked lazily.

"Not much, I've been doing a lot of running around today, I don't know how Lee does it all the time."

"I see… I also heard you had lunch with Ino."

"Yeah, it was fun and all, but she acted really weird at the end." The lazy chuunin let out a sigh. He never liked these topics, but Naruto was an idiot after all, so he could use the help.

"I would suggest that the next time you have a date with a girl; you should pay for her as well."

"Whoa… A date? I thought we were just talking."

"She was wearing different than usual clothing, right?"

"Uh… so that is what it was…" Naruto thought about it for a few moments until they arrived at the bathhouse. He looked and the different entrances, one for the men and one for the women.

"Hey Shikamaru… If you knew the day would repeat and no one would remember anything you said or do… what would you do?" The chuunin looked back at him with an inquisitive glance.

"With no consequences… I'd do whatever I wanted to do." Naruto smiled until his grin became wider and mischievous.

"Thanks Shikamaru!" He shouted and ran straight into the women's side without a moment's hesitation. Women started screeching as he darted through the dressing room and leapt into the air.

"Cannonball!" He shouted while splashing down into the center of the bath, fully clothed.

"NAAAAARUUUUTOOOO!" The blonde prankster turned and saw Sakura with her arm across her chest stomping towards him.

"Hey Sakura… do you wear a padded bra?" He commented, taking in the rather lack luster state of her chest. Her face turned red and steam nearly poured from her ears while she cracked her knuckles and without further warning, punched him straight through the wall dividing the two bathing areas.

* * *

Day 5

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…" Naruto's eyes opened and a smile spread across his face when he remembered the previous day's event.

"You know… this just might be fun." He commented while hitting the snooze button. He jumped to his feet and ran out the door without changing from his sleeping attire. Luckily, for the village, he was one who had clothes on when he slept. He ran down the street when Ino called out to him again.

"Hey Ino." He greeted while skidding to a stop.

"Naruto, what…" She then looked down in pure horror and his action that stopped her speech; his hand was grabbing her chest.

"Well… I can say those are real." He mentioned before high tailing it away from her. He was gone in a cloud a smoke before the girl had the chance to register what happened and started to scream while covering her chest.

Naruto laughing like a maniac while dashing through town. He knocked over a few produce stands owned by a few who still eyed him wrong and even pantsed Kiba in front of his sister. The Inuzuka started to give chase, but tripped over his own waistline and face planted in the street. The energetic blonde was back to dashing through town in the direction of Sakura's home. He then spied the girl stepping out of their family home with her father.

"Hey Sakura!" The pink haired girl lifted her head in his direction right as he slipped behind her and placed both hand on her chest.

"Heh… they are padded." He commented… then it all went black.

* * *

Day 6

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…"

"Did… did she just kill me?" He wondered since the next day came quick and swift. He didn't even remember her flinching before the day reset. He grinned and hit the snooze on the alarm.

"Well, I won't need to do that anymore, although that was enjoyable to a degree." He jumped to this feet and showered while thinking of all the fun he could have without having consequences and better yet, he thought that maybe he could find the correct combination of words and actions to get whatever he wanted. On that thought, he turned off the water and got dressed. Once outside of the Inn, he made his way towards the Yamanaka flower shop.

* * *

"Oh hey; it's Naruto." Said shinobi smiled happily while approaching the tall blonde.

"Hey Ino." He greeted and leaned on the counter, inching a little closer to the girl

"So what are you doing today?" She asked while backing off a little

"I was… Looking for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah… I thought that maybe you and I could…"

"Uh, no…" Ino turned abruptly and headed to the back of the store.

"That's strange… I guess I could go for another…"

* * *

"Cannonball!"

* * *

Day 7

* * *

"Oh hey; it's Naruto."

"Hey Baby."

* * *

"Belly Flop!"

* * *

Day 8

* * *

"Oh hey; it's Naruto."

"Hey Ino, wanna have sex?."

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Hell no!"

* * *

"Make way!" He was in mid backflip when he realized that it wasn't a good idea that day.

* * *

Day 9

* * *

"Good morning Konoha! It's going to be another sunny day out there, so be sure to wear that sunscreen…"

Naruto groaned and sat up… that last jump into the women's side of the bath house definitely could have gone better. Apparently the last comment he made to Ino somehow had the effect of getting Tsunade into the Bathhouse, so when he leapt in there, he was caught by the older woman and had the life crushed out of him, which was a very painful experience.

"Alright… let's dial it down today." He could almost feel his bones cracking when thinking about jumping in there again.

* * *

"Oh hey; it's Naruto."

"Hey Ino." He replied normally

"So what are you doing today?"

"I was just looking around. Things have changed quite a bit around here."

"Sure have.. I bet you haven't gotten to see all the changes, especially since it had to take forever to come up with that Jutsu. Man that guy was so strong that it took all of us to fight him and you come along and hit him with one jutsu and level him… It's just too bad you can't throw that shuriken thing." Naruto smiled at the fact that it only took him being himself to get her to talk to him.

"Yeah, I'm working on it, but I was ordered to take a day off.

"I see, well, if you'd like, my Mom is taking over around lunch and we could chat a little more. I'd like to know more about that jutsu of yours."

"Yeah, sure. You want me to come back for lunch, we could always go to that sushi bar?" She giggled and nodded.

"Sounds good."

"At least it isn't ramen right?" He blurted out in laughter.

"Or barbeque." She chimed in.

"Ok, I'll see you in a little while, Ino." Naruto headed out and wondered why there was such a difference in the outcome with just a different choice of words.

An hour later, Naruto headed back to the flower shop and just like in that one previous day, she was all dressed in that skimpier version of her usual clothes. He politely held out his arm for her and she giggled lightly before placing her hand on his arm.

"You're more of a gentleman that I thought." She mentioned while walking a little closer to him.

"Well, I did learn from Ero-sennin." He paused when she gave him a discrediting look.

"Really?"

"Sure; whatever he does, just do the opposite." She gave a warm chuckle at his joke and followed him into the sushi restaurant. After an hour of talking about their training and missions, it was time to leave but remembering Shikamaru's suggestion, Naruto pulled out enough bills to cover for them both.

"I can pay for my own." She told him. He looked at her for a moment knowing full well she'd be pissed if he let her.

"Nah, that's ok. I have a little extra since I haven't gotten an apartment yet." He replied. She looked at him and then nodded triumphantly.

"We've got an apartment available. Let me show it to you."

"I don't know…"

"Ah, come one. It'll be fun." She urged while grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the restaurant. She was giggling and intertwined her fingers with his. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped into someone.

"Oops." She muttered and continued to pull Naruto towards their family's shop. He tried to pause since he thought that it was someone he knew that they bumped into but the blonde girl was very persuasive.

'Naruto-kun…' Whispered the girl as she picked up the items from her picnic basket through blurry, watery vision.

* * *

"Here we are!" Ino announced while opening the apartment door. It was a small place with flowers tucked away in the windowsills, but it was fully furnished.

"I used to live here until I wanted something further away from the shop. I was always scared I would get caught up in a burglary or something." She revealed as she turned on the lights.

"This isn't too bad." he commented while looking around. He stepped into the bedroom to look around when Ino passed him and dove onto the bed. Naruto watched her land and realized there was something missing from her wardrobe.

"Hey Ino…" She rolled over and grinned when she saw the look on his face and the direction he was looking.

"Yes?" She called back flirtatiously while widening the stance of her legs, further proving his earlier thought.

"You're not wearing any…"

"Nope." She replied and situated herself so he had an even better view. She motioned for him to come closer and as he did, she pulled her skirt up and bared everything. He was amazed at how a real female body looked at that angle, it was just too enticing of a view to pass up. He nudged closer and closer until Ino could feel his breath on her skin.

"Don't keep me waiting." She cooed. "Let's see if you're better than last place in our class." This comment made him pause and look up.

"What do you mean by that?" She just nonchalantly waved him off.

"I've tried out everyone already." She revealed, making Naruto jerk upwards. He looked down at her bare skin once more before turning around.

"Very, very, very tempting, but… It just doesn't feel right." He headed to the door thinking about how he probably would have if she didn't come on so strangely and advertised that she'd been around the block, when he felt a pillow wiz by his head.

"What, you gay or something? Even Lee had more balls than you." He turned to her and she had a 'yeah I did him too' look on her face. Shaking his head in disbelief, he started to leave. That really pissed him off, but then something came to mind, causing an evil grin.

* * *

Day 10

* * *

"Good morning Konoha…."

"Yes… excellent." Naruto muttered while tapping his fingers evilly; today he was exacting his revenge…

* * *

"Naruto-nii." Konohamaru greeted with a cheery smile.

"Konohamaru; just the ninja I was looking for. I've got the next phase for your training for the ultimate 'sexy jutsu'."

"Really? When do we start?"

"Right now." Naruto took out a sheet of paper with a script on it. It contained the very same things he said the day before when he was with Ino and told the kid to follow along.

* * *

"Oops." Ino muttered while knocking over a girl and continued to drag the orange clad ninja down the road. The young Hyuuga's eyes were watering as she set in on picking up the contents.

"Hey Hinata." Naruto greeted while he stooped down to help her out. She quickly looked up and then back to the orange ninja being dragged down the road.

"Naruto-kun?" Following her train of thought he just smiled.

"Just a little prank." He revealed while handing over a box to her. She stuffed it in her basket and with barely a sound, quickly turned and ran off.

"One of these days, I should really try to figure her out, but right now…" He grinned and took off into a run back to the flower shop. Not more than a minute after he arrived there were two screams. One from a kid who just dropped the transformation technique out of shock and the other was Ino screaming when she realized she was about to do it with a 12 year old. Konohamaru came crashing out of the door with a horror filled look on his face. Tears were streaming from his face and his arms were clawing to help propel him forward.

"How was it Konohamaru?" Naruto asked as he ran by.

"Horrifying! I'll never look at a girl again!" Naruto burst out laughing and fell to the ground, rolling on the gravel surface. Before long he felt a presence hovering above him. He paused and looked up to see Ino seething above him.

"You should… really cover that. It has to be drafty." An embarrassing red color flowed to the Yamanaka's face, but she made no attempt to cover herself and instead pulled out a kunai.

"I am so going to kill you." She promised while inching closer.

"Or perhaps… I'll just may make you my love slave. Your clones could be lots of fun." She reached down and grabbed him by the neck collar and started to drag him toward the back of the flower shop.

"You're awfully quiet." She muttered and turned to find she was just dragging a log around in his shirt instead.

"Whew, that was a close one." Naruto commented while looking over his shoulder to make sure Ino wasn't chasing him. He was chuckling while walking past one of Konoha's many parks and saw Konohamaru huddled in the corner of a grove of bushes, shivering.

"Hey Konohamaru!" The kid looked over with a sickly face and scowled. "What? It wasn't _that_ bad. She actually has a nice one."

"That… that just isn't human." The kid muttered before falling unconscious.

"Yep… too much for a 12 year old." He laughed and started in on thinking about what to do for fun the next day... and the fact that maybe those years with Jiraiya was too influential.

"Hey, I know… I can always try to talk with TenTen, she's kind of hot… and not as slutty as Ino… and not as flat chested as Sakura."

"Who're you calling FLAT!" Naruto turned just in time to see the pink haired girl's fist smacking him right in the face.

* * *

Day 11

* * *

"Yeah, yeah… don't forget your sunscreen." Naruto muttered while rolling out of bed. Some days the memory of the pain suffered the day before was a lot to bear. He felt the relaxing feeling of the fluffy carpet massage his skin and sighed.

"Well, let's go see TenTen." Once he was all showered and ready, he headed out the door and watched the old lady struggle with her baskets. He shook his head and darted off to the place where Neji and TenTen would usually train.

He arrived and heard the usual sound of metal striking wood. Right in the middle was the weapons mistress striking a target with various weapons, each landing perfectly on their mark. She next picked up a kunai and with a grin, Naruto grabbed his own to knock hers off target. Almost instantly after he let his go, Tenten grabbed another and hurled it forward. Her first kunai struck the target perfectly, followed by the second hitting its mark with Naruto's dangling from it by the eye hole.

"I'm glad you weren't in my class." Naruto shouted while jumping over the small line of bushes. The older girl waved and smiled seeing the familiar face.

"Naruto, what brings you out here?"

"I was looking for you actually."

"Really?" She asked while wiping her face with a towel.

"Yeah, I've never really talked to you before."

"True… so what's up?"

"Uh…" He froze a bit, trying to think about what to say, making a complete idiot out of himself.

* * *

Day 12

* * *

"So what's up?"

"Uh, yours…" he commented with a grin and pointed at her chest. Her cheeks reddened and she turned away.

"Don't tease a girl like that. It's uncontrollable… just like yours." She mentioned with a snicker as she looked over her shoulder at his own problem.

The two of them ended up sitting in the training ground with their backs touching so they would face away from each other and avoid making those comments.

"You know… I think Ino would take care of you little… er big problem there if you play your cards right."

"I'm sure she would." He admitted. "But she's not quite my type… a bit too slutty." Tenten laughed, her small body rising and falling against him.

"True. As a woman I don't respect her. I mean Lee is one thing, but Kakashi-sensei too, man that it too much." She continued without thought.

"Wow… Kakashi too? I didn't hear about that one."

"Yeah, well, he was one of the teachers for the Kunoichi training."

"I haven't heard much about that special training, but I did hear about some of it from Ero-sennin, er Jiraiya."

"It's only offered to chuunin kunoichi and you need to take it to be considered for jonin promotion. It mostly involves spy tactics only suited for women."

"Seduction?"

"Yep."

"Has everyone I know taken that class?"

"Actually no. Just Ino and Sakura."

"Oh… whoa, wait… does that mean Sakura did Kakashi-sensei too?" He asked incrediously.

"Oops… I shouldn't have said that, huh?."

"Maybe I should ask him some time."

"About what?"

"Having sex with an Ironing board." The both of them suddenly burst out laughing.

"Weren't you like, totally into Sakura?"

"Yeah, but there just seems like there's something different now…"

"Like?"

"I don't know how to put it. Since I have returned I can tell she will never look at me like she sees Sasuke. I know she has tried to forget him and move on, but it all to hide the truth. No matter what she says, she will never be able to love me."

"Really… You have a little more insight and depth than I thought you'd have, well actually more than an average guy does. Someday I'm sure you'll find someone who will appreciate you."

"Like you appreciate Neji?"

"What? No way! I'm into guys with a little more energy."

"Like Lee?"

"Eh… not that much energy."

"So then… What would your ideal guy be like?" She thought for a minute while looking to the sky and tapping her chin. She then suddenly stood and spun around to face the blonde. She sweetly held her arms in front of her body and swayed back and forth.

"Well, he'd have to be sweet, kind, strong and able to make me laugh… Basically someone a lot like you."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah, but out of respect for someone… I'll never date you."

"Someone? Who?"

"That, you'll have to figure out yourself." She replied and tapped his nose before twirling around and abandoning the field.

* * *

Day 13

* * *

"So what's up?"

"Up or out?" He commented while actually poking the object. TenTen gasped and slapped his hand away.

"Totally not cool!" She shouted and stomped away.

* * *

Day 14

* * *

"So what's up?"

"I've been hearing rumors that you know someone who'd like to date me."

"Yeah, there are a few, why?"

"Care to share?"

"Um… no, I promised not to until she can make a move herself."

* * *

Day 15

* * *

"So what's up?"

"I was looking for someone to join me for lunch, you wanna go?"

"Yeah, er… I don't know… Actually I think you should ask someone else. You're fun and all but…"

"You don't want to hurt someone?"

"Yeah… wait, how did you know?"

"I'm perceptive. Could you tell me who it is you're referring to?"

"I thought you were perceptive."

"A hint then?"

"Just one." She agreed with a smirk. "She's deceptively big."

"Big?" TenTen nodded and made a rounding gesture in front of her chest

* * *

Day 16

* * *

"So what's up?"

"Flash Quiz: Of the people you know, who has a big chest?"

"Hokage-sama."

* * *

Day 17

* * *

"So what's up?"

"Of people our age, who has the biggest chest size?"

"Well, that would have to be… Actually… Why don't you ask around?" Naruto let out a sigh... he was getting nowhere trying to pry that information out of her, therefore there was only one thing left to do.

* * *

Day 18

* * *

"So what's up?"

"Wanna see?" In a quick move, Naruto dropped his pants with a grin. TenTen looked down and blushed.

"That it is…" She commented and walked away. Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for.

* * *

"Cannonball!"

* * *

Day 19

* * *

"Good morning Konoha…"

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted while completely destroying the radio, including the wall it was sitting in front of. He flopped backwards on the bed and closed his eyes.

"I'm taking this day off." He muttered before falling back to sleep.

* * *

Day 20

* * *

"Good…"

"Morning to you too." Naruto finished with a refreshed smile. After getting frustrated with the previous days of trying to force information out of Tenten with little to show for it. He quickly showered for the day and rushed out the door. Taking a deep breath of the morning air, he decided this would be a special day. The baskets outside had just fallen over, and for the first time in his time loops, he decided to lend a hand.

"Here, let me help." He offered with a smile and started to stand up the baskets for her.

"Why thank you young ninja. It is good to see there are a few people with manners these days."

"Just doing my part." He replied, brushing off the compliment.

"Nonsense I've only ever had one other person help me like that."

"Really? That is too bad."

"Indeed. Oh, you know what? You should really date the young gal who comes by my place every day, you two would be perfect… Oh where are my manners? You're probably taken."

"No, I'm actually single.

"Well I'll be… In that case, I should set you up with her. She's been chasing this one guy for years and has gotten nowhere with him. Such a sweet little one deserves someone just as sweet."

"I don't know… I guess it can't hurt." He decided since the day was going to repeat anyways.

"Well that's just wonderful…" She expressed while clasping her hands. "She always comes by here at 11:00. If you come back then, I'll introduce you."

"Ok, take care then." Naruto waved to the old lady and decided to take a different way around the village for a change. There was a cloud of dust billowing up from the road ahead of him which could only mean one thing. The green clad chuunin skidded by Naruto before jogging backwards to meet him.

"Naruto-kun! Your youth shines brightly this morning!"

"Same to you."

"Why thank you! Gai-sensei gave me a free voucher for the bath house, so I was thinking that since we all have the day off; that we should all get together."

"Yeah, sure. What are you thinking? 6:00?"

"Yes! Youthful minds do think alike! I shall see you then!" Lee kicked up a plume of dust and was off running again. Naruto shook his head and continued on through that part of the village. Just down the road, the outline of a man sitting in a tree started to come into view.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greeted until he let out a snort when recalling the comment he made to TenTen on a previous loop.

"What's that about?" Kakashi asked before looking to make sure there wasn't something stuck to him.

"Oh, nothing. I was just remembering the mole Ino had on her left thigh."

"Don't you mean right?" He asked before he realized what he just revealed.

"Ha! I knew you'd fall for it! So how loose was she?" The silver haired jonin ignored him and buried his face in his book.

"Wow, that bad? Like throwing a hotdog down a hallway bad?" That comment actually got a snicker from the usually composed man.

"Naruto, why don't you go pester someone else?"

"I would, but you broke the man's law."

"Broke the what?"

"The man's law. You know the one that states that the moment one man learns of falsifying bra size, he shall inform any and all parties interested in said party."

"Huh?"

"Don't hide behind your ignorance, you should have told me that Sakura padded her chest… Man what a letdown." Naruto continued chuckling while walking away from the man who was still trying to figure out if that was really Naruto and how he came up with that top secret information.

Naruto was enjoying just strolling through town on this particular day. He couldn't quite place why, but it just felt like a good day, despite having lived through it 20 times. He started whistling a gentle tune when he noticed an old guy with a produce cart, cursing over the broken wheel. Since it was a good day, he just had to help.

"Need a hand?" The old man looked up and had a relieved look on his face.

"Yes, most definitely. If I don't get my produce to the sellers in 15 minutes, they'll stop using my far as the supplier."

"Hmmm, well we can't really fix the wheel in time, but I've got an idea." Naruto summoned a large group of clones and with a loud shout, they all grabbed the kart and started carrying it to where it needed to go. They rolled up to the seller's stand in the nick of time, just as the clones collapsed in a heap, followed by plumes of smoke.

"Thanks a lot… Naruto was it?"

"Yep, no problem… Oh hey, what time is it?"

"Almost 11:00 why?"

"Oh crap, I gotta go!" Naruto took off in a flash and hurried to the basket maker's stand. The old lady was smiling happily when he arrived.

"Right on time sonny boy." She greeted. "She'll be here any minute now." Naruto nodded and started waiting. 5 minutes… 10 minutes… 15 minutes… 30 minutes… He even waited 45 minutes before he started to get annoyed.

"Well, I guess I'll be going." He muttered. It was strange to feel disappointed about such a small thing,

"Sorry son, I was sure she'd be here."

"Nah, no worries." He gave the apologetic woman a warm smile and headed out once more. While darting through the many people he saw a large man salivating over various produce out for sale.

"Choji!" He called out, catching the attention of the plump ninja.

"Oh Naruto… How is everything?

"Great… I've been in a good mood recently and felt like barbeque. You want to come along? My treat." Pure fire blazed in the young man's eyes.

"BARBEQUE!" He shouted and took off in a bolt with Naruto being dragged helplessly under his arm. They barreled around the next corner where Shikamaru was lazily walking in no particular direction, and before he knew what was happening, he was caught up in the stampeding Akamichi's path.

Once the dust started to settle out side of Yakiniku Q, it became all too apparent that Shikamaru wasn't the only person caught off guard. Naruto stumbled around in a dazed circle until he finally became aware of his surroundings and saw that Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, and even Kiba managed to get caught in the stampede. The blonde jinchuuriki grabbed his head to gain his composure and sheepishly smiled.

"Well, that hasn't changed." He commented.

"You're treating, right?" Shikamaru asked while dusting off his pants.

"Well, that's why we're here. Let's go guys!" Kiba was puzzled but shrugged his shoulders and followed the three into the restaurant. Ino was stumbling dizzily behind them when Neji paused and looked down the street as if he saw something. After brushing it off he decided that since it was free food, it'd be rude to not partake.

* * *

"Wooo man I'm stuffed!" Choji exclaimed happily while barely making it out of the restaurant doors.

"Yeah, but Gama-chan isn't." Naruto muttered in a sad voice while stuffing the deflated coin purse back into his pocket. His distraction caused him to bump into someone, a now very common occurrence when exiting a restaurant.

"Sorry… Hinata?" Now he was really confused while he picked up the items rolling on the ground and stuck them back into the basket. Every time he'd leave a restaurant around lunch time, no matter the time or place, he'd end up running into her and knocking her basket to the ground.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." She muttered before taking off with her basket.

"Was that Hinata-sama?" Neji asked while looking to the young woman's retreating form.

"Yeah… any idea what she was doing today?"

"No, she left the estate early today. She did say something about preparing a lunch, but other than that…"

"Does she eat a lot?"

"No, why?"

"Well her picnic basket… she can't possibly eat everything inside of it."

"Really?" Neji muttered while hiding a smirk from view.

"Hey, you know something, don't you?" Naruto shouted while edging closer to him.

"No, I really don't." He defended and turned to resume his day without allowing any more information to drop. The blonde turned back and saw all his other friends were deserting him while they had the chance.

"Oy, Shikamaru!" He called out and caught up to the lazy guy.

"I don't know anything either." He replied without having the question asked.

"No, that isn't what I wanted to ask."

"Then what?"

"Well, let's say you are stuck in a time loop where the same day repeats itself."

"Yeah?"

"So everything happens exactly the same, what could cause you to run into the same person at different times in the day no matter where you are?"

"That is a really weird question. First it is impossible to be in a time loop and second, why are you thinking of such things?"

"Never mind the reason, just go with it and answer the question."

"Tsk… well, if there was such a thing; it would be the one aware of the loop who would alter the day. The only way the outcome of the day would change would be by influencing it. Either that or perhaps this person is aware of the loop as well."

"Really… Thanks a lot Shikamaru!" Naruto turned and took off in a run, to where? He had no idea.

* * *

"Ok, so Hinata is either aware of these loops or is… Gah I don't know! I guess I should just find her." He searched the village and just like the time he tried to return her basket, she was nowhere to be seen. Not at home, not training in any of the training grounds, not even checking in at the hospital, it was like she just up and vanished. There was only one place he knew she would be, and that was running into him after lunch.

* * *

Day 21

* * *

"Hey, thanks old man." Naruto stepped out of the ramen shop and like he was accustomed to, he bumped into the young Hyuuga.

"Oh Hinata." He mentioned like he was unaware that he was going to run into her. HE bent down and helped to pick up the fallen items.

"Thank you Naruto-kun."

"Hey Hinata…" Before he was able to finish she was already standing and ready to take off. He quickly reached out to grab her wrist to stop her, but her movements were faster and she was gone.

"Damn…"

* * *

Day 22

* * *

"Thank you Naruto-kun." This time Naruto lunged at her with both hands and caught nothing once more.

"Crap!"

* * *

Day 23

* * *

"Naruto-kun, thank you."

"Gotcha!" He shouted as the bricks of the street jumped up into clones and pounced on the girl, only to watch as she effortlessly dodged and sidestepped his clones and made her escape.

"What is the deal? She's a slippery one."

* * *

Day 24

* * *

"Naruto-kun, thank you." She stood to leave and realized that within an instant she was surrounded by a wall of orange completely surrounding her. Her eyes looked scared as her face reddened before she huddled into a ball and fainted. Naruto looked down at her and felt really bad for causing her trauma. He let his clones disappear and set her up against a nearby tree.

"I guess, you really dislike me that much… I'm sorry." He left her be, but was determined to not let her go without asking if she was repeating the day as well.

* * *

Day 25

* * *

"Thank you Naruto-kun."

"Yeah, no problem." She gave him a quick little smile and took off. The moment she dove around a corner, she was met with the face of Sakura.

"Whoa, what's the rush Hinata?" The girl just squeaked and ducked under her

* * *

Day 26

* * *

"What's the rush Hinata?" Ino asked. Once again the young Hyuuga ducked around her and ran.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Day 27

"What's the rush Hinata?" Tenten asked. The young woman paused and hung her head.

"Naruto-kun."

'Whoa… so Hinata will talk to Tenten?' Naruto thought, tucked carefully into a henge.

"Is he bothering you?"

"NO! I mean no… it's I still can't."

"Can't what?"

"I can't, well, you know…"

"Escape this time loop?"

"Huh?" The confused look on her face said it all; she had no clue about the time loop. Naruto/Tenten let out a sigh.

"Well, if you don't want to see him, just tell him to stay away."

"Wait what? I… I don't want him to stay away! Why are you acting so weird?" Out of instinct, Hinata activated her byakugan and instantly realized it was Naruto. She froze up and fell forward, unconscious.

"Weird… so Hinata doesn't hate me, but can't stand to be near me… What a weird girl."

* * *

Day 28

* * *

Naruto woke to the sound of the radio blaring its usual rhetoric. After silencing the device, he hit the shower and started yet another day. The usual happenings of the day was getting very boring, so he decided it was about time to liven things up. He transformed himself into a trio of naked women, thanks to his harem technique, and started to slowly saunter down the main street. The village fell into an uproar as men were falling over themselves at the sight of them and their wives were seething.

"NARUTOOOO!" Apparently all the commotion brought out Sakura, who was overly pissed at him. Three cracks to the heads of the women left only one orange clad ninja kneeling at her feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You're not 12 anymore, so you can't get away with these stupid pranks!"

"But Sakura-chaaaan…" He whined while crawling closer.

"There's no way you can get out of this now!" She shouted while cracking her knuckles but Naruto suddenly grinned.

"Yoink!" In a sudden motion, he had pulled her skirt to her ankles, and surprisingly taking her underwear with it. He grinned perversely when he saw her exposed bottom half and had to commit it to memory quick so he could high tail it out of there. He took off as fast as he could go, leaving Sakura struggling to right her wardrobe and give chase.

"Someone save me!" He shouted while bouncing off of walls and darting between people, struggling to stay ahead of the pink haired devil. He soon came to a fork in the road and sent a clone down one road and himself down the other. Lucky for him, Sakura took the road with the clone, leaving him to make his getaway. He looked behind to make sure she didn't follow him and collided hard with an object. He tumbled to the ground and felt a pillow like softness under him. Looking down his eyes met the blank stare of the person under him. He had her pinned to the ground and started to back off when he recognized her.

"Sorry Hinata." She kept her blank stare on until her senses were properly processed, resulting in a red color and letting out a shrill scream. She moved to get up but passed out before making another move.

"Hmm, this time I wasn't even at lunch…" He contemplated what to do next while placing her spilled items back in her basket. He decided after much deliberation that he'd sit with her until she woke up. For some strange reason he really wanted to talk to her now. After slinging his arm through the handle of the basket, he stooped down and picked up her light body. Her face was peaceful and it just caused him to smile while looking at it. He placed her on a patch of soft grass at the nearest park and sat next to her sleeping body.

He never really took the time to watch a girl sleep, mostly because he's never seen one outside of mission, but this time, he had all the time in the world to study her. Her tiny pink lips were moistened in her sleep and were now glistening in the light of the day. He couldn't help but enjoy the scene and brushed a strip of her dark blue hued hair out of her face.

"Naruto-kun…" She mumbled sweetly in her sleep while her tiny arms wrapped around his wrist, tugging him closer. She let out a little moan before her eyes suddenly popped open to see a wide grin on that whiskered face. She gasped and jumped backwards. There was panic in her eyes and her sight darted around, trying to plan her escape.

"Hinata, stop." Naruto ordered in a commanding voice, causing her to flinch and focus her eyes on him.

"Why do you have to be so scared around me; I just don't get it."

"I… I…" She muttered and babbled nonsense. Naruto leaned in closer trying to make heads or tails of what she was saying.

"What Hinata? We used to talk a little bit before I left to train. Have I changed that much?"

"No, yes… I… I mean… I… you…" Naruto reached out and touched her hand.

"How about I take you out for lunch and you can organize your thoughts and tell me them when you're ready?" He saw just the tiniest of movement of her head agreeing to his offer, but she remained sitting.

"Um… I… I…" She muttered and grabbed the picnic basket next to her and held it out, forcing the best smile she could through her embarrassment.

"You… want to share your lunch with me?" The small nod was all he needed; he had been dying to try the stuff she had packed away in there since he was being teased by it constantly in the previous time loops. Her nervousness was obvious as she shakily pulled the contents from the picnic basket and laid it out.

"Wow Hinata, did you cook all this yourself?" She smiled and looked away from him.

"Y… yes…"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Naruto looked to the source of the voice and cringed when he saw Sakura. Her face a dark with anger and he knew there was no easy way out of this. He scrambled to his feet to make his escape and tripped over the picnic, scattering it all over the place, and causing him to land on the ground with a high pitched squeak.

"Uh…" The blonde's voice was shaky and his head roughly ratcheted around and saw a cute flushed face looking back at him. Her eyes were closed and her face was scrunched up from not being able to retreat.

"Sorry… I" He went to push himself up and off of her, but the moment he did, she let out another squeak. Confusedly, Naruto attempted it once more when he then noticed that his hand wasn't on the ground, but on her chest instead.

"Quit molesting Hinata!" Sakura shouted while making contact with the back of his head.

* * *

Day 29

* * *

Naruto woke with a moment of anger. Normally the aggravated assaults by Sakura were humorous to him, but there was one really big problem this last time… He didn't get to eat any of Hinata's cooking. Once awake, he picked up the radio based alarm clock and threw it across the room before rolling back over in bed. It wasn't a big deal since the day was repeating once more like usual, but he just couldn't shake of the sour feeling he had over the whole thing. A few hours of rolling around sleeplessly in bed resulted in a shower and heading out for the day. He pulled open the door, happy to see a different scene upon his arrival, but then there was the old lady with the baskets and… Hinata?

He quickly jumped back inside the room and left only a small crack open with the door. He curiously watched the young girl talk happily with the old lady like she knew her personally. After noticing that, he felt weird inside, a feeling he didn't feel all too often.

"Why can't she talk to me that way?" He whispered to himself. He continued watching until the young Hyuuga scurried off into the crowd. Naruto bolted from the door and ran up to the old lady.

"That girl who was just here… Hinata, do you know her?"

"Oh, that little sweetie? Of course, she comes by every day she's available to talk to me at 11:00 on the nose. It's too bad she has a thing for some guy."

"Really?" He wondered… this was the first he had ever heard about that and he couldn't really place the reason why he didn't like the sound of it either.

"Oh yeah, she's been trying to catch that guy for quite some time. I even gave her a basket so she could bring him food for lunch, but she's just so shy."

"So the basket… was for a guy." He felt depressed and walked away from the old lady. He tried to make sense as to why he felt that way but couldn't come to terms with it and decided that he should begin a new assignment… Figure out who Hinata was trying to meet.

* * *

Day 30

* * *

Naruto was awake before the usual sounding of the alarm clock that morning. He had stayed in his room the whole previous day to devise a plan to catch Hinata in the act. He knew there were only a few times when he could run into her; after lunch, no matter where he was, and at 11:00 at the old lady's basket stand, but only when he hides in the inn. This was very little to go off of, so he headed out to meet up with TenTen, the only person Hinata would respond to in the days he tried to physically catch her.

"So what's up?" She asked in the every predictable pattern he had grown accustomed to.

"I was wondering… I'm trying to spy on a girl, but not like ero-sennin!" He shouted quickly to clarify, since the comment was a little creeper like.

"I was curious about this one girl. I've heard she's really into someone and I want to find out who."

"OK, so who is this girl, and what make you want to know who it is?" She inquired flirtatiously. Her curiosity was quite high and she scooted even closer to him.

"I really don't know why… It's just… I don't want her to get hurt."

"Hmmm?" She sounded while inspecting the look on the blonde's face. She looked disappointed when she finally slumped back on the ground with a huff.

"Liar." She grumbled.

"Huh? What do you mean 'Liar'?" She looked over at him and grinned confidently.

"What I mean is you like her."

"Yeah, so?"

"Not like that, I mean you see her differently than other girls or women."

"Well… that is true, I guess. She's always seemed different than everyone else."

"See, a woman never is wrong, so who is she… Wait let me guess…" Tenten looked up to the sky and started tapping her chin with a finger while pondering the possibilities.

"Well, it can't be Sakura, you could ask her directly… Ino? No she's too dirty. Wait! No it can't be me either; that would make this conversation too weird. Eh… Temari?"

"Yeah, no." He responded quickly.

"Aw fine I give up!" She shrieked and fell backwards, exasperated… She really needed to make more female acquaintances near their age.

"Just tell me who it is."

"Its… well… Hinata." Tenten bolted upright and stared at him with a straight face.

"Wait… Seriously?"

"Uh… yeah."

"So you want to spy on Hinata and find out who she's interested in?"

"Duh, that's what I've been saying all this time." Her serious face faded into a grin followed by unlady like laughter billowing from her lungs.

"You…" She muttered through fits of laughter and slamming her hand on the ground.

"I can't…" She shouted. Her personal hilarity roller coaster continued without end, resulting with her rolling on the ground and gripping her side from the pain of continuing.

"Yeah, yeah… Laugh it up." He sighed and stood. There was a little disappointment in his eyes as he turned to leave the laughing teen.

"No, wait…" She called out, trying to forcefully speak through the uncontrollable need to laugh. He turned to her for a moment. She took a deep breath to retain some dignity.

"What?" He asked coarsely.

"Sorry, it was… just too much. Your idiocy is still legendary."

"If all you're going to do is insult me, I'll be going."

"No, that's…" Tenten let out a sigh and hung her head. Although it was very funny from her perspective, she could see how he would be put out by it.

"If you really want to see who she's _taken_ by, disguise yourself with a good henge and let one of your clones do whatever you would do for the day and follow her. It should be good training for you as well… following a Hyuuga…"

"Finally…" Naruto commented. "Why couldn't you have come out with that at the start?"

"Easy… Then I couldn't tease you." She grinned and waved him off so she could restart her training regimen.

"Girls… I'll never understand them." He commented and headed for the inn, there was still time to trade out with a clone and follow Hinata when she comes by the basket maker's stand.

* * *

Once back at the inn, Naruto set up his clone to go about a well-known routine from a previous loop while he transformed into a very common looking villager and peered out of the barely cracked door, waiting for his mark. The moment the clock hit 11:00, the cautious young Hyuuga scurried across the village street to the old woman's stand. While she was occupied with the old woman, he took the chance to close in. He hoped that she'd let her guard down when in the village, and he wasn't disappointed when he was able to stand next to her while admiring one of the baskets.

"… So today is the day sweetie?" The old woman asked.

"I… I hope so. It is just so hard to talk to him, well actually he's easy to talk to; it's just that I get so flustered when I see him that it goes so wrong."

"Maybe you're over thinking things?"

"Yeah, I know… I just want everything to be perfect that I forget about actually doing it… God, why do I have to like him so much?" The old lady smiled at her and placed her aged hand on the girl's shoulder.

"One day at a time… eventually there will come a time when you can tell him how you feel. Until then, do your best… You never know; today could be the day." Hinata smiled and nodded happily.

"Right… today might be the day; no it is the day!" She corrected and took off with a happy bounce in her step.

"Well sir, did you have any ques… tions…" By the time the old lady turned her attention to the man browsing her products, he was gone in the blink of an eye.

* * *

The young Hyuuga was moving through town while the inconspicuous Naruto was following right behind her, making sure to look as though it was just a coincidence that he was going the same way. He couldn't quite figure out where she was going, but soon the strong scent of ramen flowed into his nostrils and he almost lost control over the transformation from his hunger. Doing his best he tried to push the thought from his mind, but then Hinata suddenly stopped in front of the ramen stand and just stood there. 5 minutes… 10 minutes… even 15 minutes passed and she was frozen in that one position.

'I wonder if there is actually something wrong with her.' Naruto contemplated while sitting leisurely at the side of the street, keeping a glancing eye on her. Soon she came back to life with a jump and she scrambled to move away, but she couldn't make up her mind on which way to turn.

"Thanks old man!" Shouted an orange clad ninja as he stepped out of the ramen stand, resulting in the usual series of thumps and squeaks.

'Well, at least I know why it is so easy to bump into her… She's weird." He chuckled to himself while standing and brushing off his pants. Studying the movements of the two, he was able to tell in which direction she was going to run off to, based on previous loops, and started in that direction before she did. Proving his deduction, the small girl soon was bolting right by him. He kept following her as she slowed down after the first half hour of incoherent running and they eventually ended up on top of the Hokage monument. The downside to being there was that there was only one small path heading up it and it would be beyond difficult to conceal the fact that he was following her. Lucky for him, she was walking with her head down, oblivious to her surroundings. She walked up to the only tree on the mountain and leaned against its large trunk.

"I… I couldn't ask him." She mumbled while sliding down the trunk, and rested upon the ground beneath the tree. Naruto couldn't let her sit with a face like she was wearing and decided to make his still disguised self known.

"Hey uh… missy. What's the problem?" Hinata's small head jerked upwards and looked at the unfamiliar man with tears threatening to leak from her eyes. She wiped her face on her sleeve and held a slight smile for him.

"Nothing much." She mumbled and looked away. "I'm just… I'm too shy to really talk to the guy I like."

"Oh… Well that is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I know but… I… I really don't want anyone else to take him. When I think about it, I get scared." She then suddenly stopped talking and looked over at the guy.

"Do… do I know you?" She asked.

"Don't think so, but I know you. Everyone knows the daughters of Hiashi."

"I see… but I don't understand… I feel like I can tell you anything but I don't even know you."

"Well that is weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, but you know, I kind of like people like you." Hinata's eyes widened and she stared to scoot away from the man.

"No, I don't mean it like…"

"Na… Naruto-kun?" The moment she mumbled those words, she activated her byakugan and verified her suspicions, resulting in a quick one way trip to embarrassed unconsciousness.

"Dang it… how did she know… but why does she faint when it is just me around… It was like that when we were all genin." He pondered the thought for a while until his head started to hurt without a plausible answer. He let out a sigh and dropped the transformation. Now in his normal form he move the small Hyuuga to a more comfortable position and left her to peacefully sleep while he headed back to the village. Part of him wanted to keep an eye on her, but he knew that the whole situation would probably repeat if he did. While continuing to mull over the strange dealing with her, a loud shouting was heard, then a streak of green skidded by.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted.

"Hey Lee… Bath house, 6:00?"

"You are right! Great minds think alike." He repeated like usual and took off again. Naruto chuckled and shook his head… these days were starting to get too predictable… Except for Hinata… she was still very much unpredictable.

Now that the remainder of the day was set, it would go like usual, so after skipping out on many loops worth, he decided it was time to indulge himself a bit at the bath house.

"CannonBall!" He shouted while soaring through the air. He really couldn't explain which was more fun, seeing all the naked bodies or the look of surprise and horror on their faces.

"Naruto-kun!?"

"Huh? Hinata?" His form faltered and he crashed headlong into the water. He sputtered and stood in time to see the young Hyuuga fall face first into the water.

"Aw crap." He lunged forward and quickly grabbed her limp body. Her chest was pressed against his while he struggled to pull her from the water.

"NAR-U-TO!"

"Hey it's not my fault! Hinata has never been here before!" Despite his pleading, he knew the end was coming with the cracking of Sakura's knuckles along with many other kunoichi and other women in attendance.

* * *

Day 31

* * *

Good morning Konoha!

"What was Hinata doing there?" He wondered until something finally registered. He immediately jumped to his feet.

"Are you kidding me!? Where did Hinata hide that rack?!" His memory was foggy in the hectic course of events, but there was one thing he was sure about… She wasn't flat like Sakura.

"Although… now that I think about it… I did land on something very soft that other day… Well I guess she is deceptively big." He headed towards the shower and paused when he remembered something Tenten told him over half a month ago.

"You can't mean…? Nah, it can't be her… but… that is… she is awfully cute…" He nodded to himself a few times and decided that it would be something interesting to think about while he continued his investigation. If nothing else, it would be something to bring interest in the increasingly boring repeats of the same day.

* * *

Naruto impatiently waited in his room and waited for the 11:00 appearance of the young woman. The morning drug on longer and longer; like anytime you wait for something. Finally she arrived and he jumped from his room and hurried out into the street.

"Hey Hinata!" He shouted in greeting and ran towards her. She froze stiff and eyed multiple directions, looking for a way out and a direction to run.

"You're free today, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her hand and started pulling her through the streets. She had a blank look on her face since she couldn't figure out what was going on and blindly followed. Her face started heating up when she noticed the rough hands clasped over hers, something she only could dream about up until that point. Eventually they arrive at Naruto's favorite thinking park; the small play area outside of the academy.

"I'm not taking you away from something am I?" He asked when he finally stopped. She made a few small shakes with her head while never once looking away from the hand that was being held.

"Oh, sorry." He muttered when he traced her gaze and released her. She sighed in the back of her mind but had to push her thoughts out of her mind to focus on whatever Naruto had to say. He felt a little embarrassed and sat on the small swing he always rested on in the early years.

"I've been hearing things about you…" He started, catching her attention.

"L... Like what?"

"Well its, erm…" He didn't like being serious and let his usual smile spread across his face and just blurted out the question.

"Do you like anyone? Like romantically?" Her face reddened and she turned away from him.

"Sorry, you don't have to answer." He recoiled quickly.

"No… I, yes I mean."

"Really? I didn't know… So who is he… or she?" There was a quiet noise that escaped her lips after hearing the obvious joke.

"I… I… its… y…" She shook her head violently and realized that she couldn't actually say it in front of him just like that and just thrust out the picnic basket she toted around with her.

"Oh, the basket… I heard that you made this for the guy you like." He commented while standing from the swing. She looked at the ground and made a tiny nod.

"Wow… I wish a girl would make me something like this; I'd just love it." This was enough to start Hinata's eyes watering, making the blonde think he shouldn't have said that.

"Hey I'm sorry… I didn't mean it." She shook her head again and forced a smile.

"I'm h… happy." She mumbled.

"Really? For what?"

"For… You… would a… appreciate this."

"Well yeah I would, but you should really give it to him, it would be all the more special to receive it than to just imagine." He let out a sigh, he could see in her eyes the same look that he saw over and over again with Sakura; Hinata was in love with someone… something that couldn't be swayed. It was a look that disappointed him. It was easier to go through life thinking you had a chance with anyone you meet but the knowledge that someone is off limits strikes hard at your personal reality. Despite wanting to test the hair brained theory he had about her possibly liking him, he threw it all out the window; she was off limits…

"Well, thanks for taking with me." Naruto turned to leave until he felt a gentle tug on his shirt, causing him to turn and face her. She was looking away and towards the ground with one had gripping his shirt and the other still holding out the basket to him. She was unable to say anything and hoped he could piece it together.

"What is it Hinata?" He asked, not quite getting what she wanted.

"F…for y… you." She finally muttered.

"But… isn't that to convey your feelings to the guy you like?" She slowly nodded her head and started to feel faint and the blood rushed to her cheeks.

"I… I… I made it… f… for y… you." She suddenly then stumbled forward, feeling lightheaded. Naruto lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground. He eased her onto the soft grass and felt her forehead; it was hot to the touch.

"Why do you wear this jacket when it is so hot out?" He questioned the girl who was drifting in and out of consciousness. After getting no answer, he unzipped the jacked and let the two halves fall open to reveal what she wore underneath… Anko would be proud. It was almost like a completely different person. The wardrobe of a seductress hidden under the shy exterior… it was almost too much to fathom. After seeing all that, he knew that there was probably much more to the young woman than what she led on; it could be very educational to get to know her better, then he pieced together what she said before falling… If she made that picnic for him, _**and**_ wanted to give it to the guy she liked; wouldn't that make _**him**_ the guy she liked?

He flopped down next to her with astonishment. He always threw out that possibility even when some clues would elude to it. Why? Because she seemed out of his league. It was hard enough thinking about going after Sakura who wasn't particularly pretty or from a prestigious clan, but Hinata? He leaned back and rested his head on his hands while looking up at the cloud in a Shikamaru-esque fashion. He looked over at Hinata and noticed her gentle eyes were looking back at him.

"Do you… Do you really like me?" He asked. She nodded with a shy smile, waiting for his reaction to it.

"Really? That is something…" He turned back to the clouds and sat in silence.

"W… what do you t… think?" She stammered. He looked back at her with a bright smile.

"I think it is great, but since you're always so quiet, I don't really know much about you." Her faint smile faded into disappointment.

"… but… That is easy to change. How about you spend the day with me?" Her jaw dropped a little displaying her astonishment and quickly nodded in agreement before he changed his mind.

"Great! Is it ok to have lunch now?" Hinata quickly sat up realizing that she wasn't imagining things.

"Uh… y… yes." She awkwardly started to set out the picnic… at last, Naruto thought, he would get to try her cooking.

The meal was quite awkward, Naruto noted. Hinata still wasn't saying much while he had to carry on the conversation, talking about his training with Jiraiya and creating his forbidden rasenshuriken with Kakashi were the main topics. At least through it all the Hyuuga woman looked like she was enjoying herself.

"That was great Hinata, where did you learn to cook?"

"My m… mother taught me before, well… you know…"

"Well, at least you have something." She nodded and sadly started putting the items back into the basket.

"I… I guess I should g… go." She went to stand until she found her hand being grabbed.

"Don't go yet." He pulled her hand lightly to keep her planted. "I mean… you can stay longer right?"

"M… Maybe a little longer, but I still h… have to train."

"To hell with training!" Naruto shouted angrily causing Hinata to forcefully jump to her feet and broke free of his grip and took off running.

"Hinata, I… I just got to talk to you…" He mumbled quietly. "Well, there is always tomorrow…"

* * *

Day 32

* * *

"I… I guess I should g… go."

"Don't go yet." He pulled her hand lightly. "I mean… you can stay longer right?"

"M… Maybe a little longer, but I still h… have to train."

"You can skip one day of training, right?"

"I…"

"What if I told you that the day would repeat tomorrow?"

"Huh?"

"Well, what would you do if one day always repeats over and over?"

"I… I don't know. That is impossible isn't it?"

"Not from where I am… This same day repeated for me at least 30 times. Like that old lady you talk with at 11:00, Lee wanting to go to the bath house tonight… It is all is the same each and every day."

"Really?" She stared at him for a long time, looking for any sign that he was lying. "You're… this isn't a prank?"

"No, let me go prove it to you." Naruto jumped to his feet and pulled Hinata away from the academy. He led her by the hand through the village and stopped outside of an apartment.

"Who l… lives here?" He looked at the confused Hyuuga and smiled.

"Sakura."

"Doesn't she…?" He knocked on the door loudly and much to Hinata's surprise, the door opened and out came the pink haired medic.

"Whoa, Naruto and Hinata… How did you two know I moved here? I haven't even started moving my stuff yet."

"Just a hunch." Naruto commented while looking at Hinata.

"That doesn't p… prove anything."

"Ok fine… Hey Sakura; what time is it?"

"Almost 1:30; why?"

"1:30…" He thought for a moment and then smiled.

"Alright Hinata, watch this… Lee, bathhouse, and 6:00; remember that." He grabbed her hand again and took off, nearly dragging her behind him until he came to a stop a few blocks from Sakura's new apartment.

"Naruto-kun… W…what are we doing?"

"Wait for it…." Before long a cloud of dust billowed out from the feet of a green person who just skidded around a corner. In a fraction of a second, Lee was running in place next to them.

"Naruto-kun, great timing. I was thinking we should all get together at the bath house, say around 6:00?" Naruto looked at Hinata again who was now amazed at what was going on.

"Sure Lee, Bath house, 6:00." The green ninja smiled and raised his thumb before bolting away.

"Believe me now?"

"Well… n… not quite. This could be a p… prank."

"Ah come on Hinata. What do I have to do to make you believe me?" She stopped to think about it and smiled.

"Tomorrow, w… when the day repeats, bring me here and before I say this… k… k… k… kiss me." She forced a smile and quickly moved away from him, back into the village.

"But… how is that going to prove anything?"

* * *

Day 33

* * *

"Believe me now?"

"Well… n… not quite. This could be a p… prank."

"Ah come on Hinata. What do I have to do to make you believe me?" She stopped to think about it and smiled.

"T…" Her sentence was stopped barely after starting with a soft warmth pressing to her lips. Her eyes widened when she realized she was being kissed… by Naruto… She wished this dream would last forever but before long he pulled away and looked at her.

"Yesterday… You told me to do that if the day repeated." Hinata's hand came up to cover her astonished, gaping mouth. At that moment she was going to say just that…

"I… I believe you Naruto-kun." She stepped closer to him and reluctantly reached out and touched his hand.

"Good, so let's skip your training for the day so I can really get to know you." He grabbed her hand and led her on a walk around the village. After a few moments of silence, Naruto was determined to get her to talk and open up a little bit.

"So, tell me about the real Hinata; and I don't mean the one who hides in a baggy jacket. I mean the one who dresses like you do under the jacket." Her face heated up while she slowed down.

"I… um… I thought it c… could give me confidence."

"And did it?" She just shook her head. "So then… why do you keep wearing it?" She looked up with a coy smile.

"I… I like it."

"Really?"

"Y… yes. I feel like it's me."

"Interesting… so secretly you want to be sexy?" She nodded.

"Is… is that bad?"

"Not at all. Actually I would like to see a sexy Hinata, but the shy quiet one is pleasant too."

"Um… well… maybe… maybe I c... can show you sometime?"

"Wow Hinata, just wow… this really is a different side of you…"

"So… what do you like… in a… um… woman?" She asked while finding a bit more confidence than usual.

"Hmm, well I'm not that picky, but she has to be cute, fun to be with, and it helps a lot when they are nice to me."

"Doesn't s… sound much like Sakura."

"No… no it doesn't, but it does sound a lot like you." He threw back with a smile. Her lips curled up while she looked away from him.

"Shy or s… sexy?"

"Both, like you… Actually if you want the truth, I do like you, you've just been so weird around me that I never really got to talk to you and get to know you, but I will always remember the times when you weren't so weird and encouraged me... No one has done that for me like you did."

"You, it… I … um… Thank you." Naruto suddenly stopped and looked at her closely before pulling her around to face him.

"This… you talking to me like this is how I want to see you. You aren't a shy and weird girl; you're a misunderstood beautiful woman." After those words he pulled her even closer and locked lips with her.

"Wha…what was that for?" She gasped after reluctantly pulling away.

"Well, the first kiss was because you told me to yesterday… this last one was because I felt like it. Did you mind?"

"No… I … I liked it." She answered with an embarrassed giggle. She moved closer and held his hand tighter, enjoying the wonderful feeling she always wanted, but despite it being everything she wanted, something was missing and it started to bother her.

The two talked about various things and Hinata slowly came out of her shell and wasn't as shy as she normally was around him, which was a very good thing, but there was still that weird feeling she had that she couldn't shake… like being involuntarily pulled along… Unfortunately their time together seemed too short as they arrived at the bathhouse at the appointed time.

"So… is this it or… can we get together after I'm done here? I just don't want my day to end and have you forget everything."

"I…" A small tear rolled down her cheek when she realized that raw fact, she would not remember the happiness she felt that day…

"I will be on the other side… don't leave without me." Naruto kissed the small tear on her face and gave her a smile before heading into the bathhouse.

For the first time in all of the time loops, there was no desire to run and invade the other side. It was strange to not have the want… well actually the want was there but he really wanted to stay conscious to finish out the whole day with her.

* * *

Naruto stepped out of the bathhouse and grinned when he saw the wonderful face of Hinata turn to greet him. The sun was setting and the way the shadows cast down from the trees overhead made her light colored eyes glitter in the waning sun.

"Hinata… let's… let's get some dinner."

"Sure… but… could we g… go somewhere quiet?"

"Yeah… any ideas?"

"Um…" She slowly tapped her fingers together and looked at the ground. "T… take out?"

"Yeah, we can do that… where do you want to eat?"

"Y… your place?"

"OK, I guess…" He led her back to the rented room and opened the door for her.

"It isn't much." She passed through into the small room and noticed that there was no place to sit, just the bed. With an embarrassed glance she sat on the corner, barely even touching the bed.

"Come on, don't be so shy now." He teased and leapt onto the bed, throwing out his arm to drag her with him. She let out a screech in surprise and landed with a smile next to him.

"There, that's better." Their faces were just a few inches apart, looking at each other. "You're cuter than I remember." He ran his thumb across her cheek before jumping to his feet.

"Well, time for dinner." He ran to the door and strangely, to Hinata at least, there was someone there with a meal for them.

"When did you?"

"Yesterday, er… what you remember as yesterday. He brought the meal in and after they quietly finished it, they were back lying on the bed next to each other.

"Am I really going to g… go back to how I was tomorrow?" She finally asked after sitting in silence.

"Yeah… I still don't know how to end it, so tomorrow morning I will wake up to the same phrase on Konoha radio, take the same shower that ends with cold water and head outside to see the old lady pick up baskets that a group of kids knocked over. Then I'll do something, head to lunch and bump into you, then you run off."

"I… I do?"

"Sure do… I actually tried for quite a few days to talk to you but you are just so fast."

"oh…"

"Why would you run away all the time?"

"I was… probably trying to ask you to lunch. I get flustered and feel the n… need to run away."

"Makes sense…"

"I wonder though… have you ever tried to stay up until the next day and see what happens?"

"Hmm… no I haven't… you want to stay up with me?" She agreed happily as they continued talking into the night. Hinata's eyes started to look heavy and there were pauses in her conversation.. .she was beyond tired.

"How early did you get up?"

"F…five… had… … to make … lunch." She yawned and tried to liven herself up, to no avail.

"To think you did that all for me… Would you… when you forget today and it all starts over would you like for me to spend the day with you again?"

"No..."

"No? But I thought after all this… I …"

"Its not… I want to spend every day with you but… this is all wrong I… let me… wait for me to tell you how I feel… don't come after me until… until I can say … say… say… I … lo…ve… … you."

"Huh? What? Hinata?" Her eyes were closed and she was breathing softly. "Hinata?" She was completely out. Naruto sighed and looked over at the clock as it hit 12:00 it was officially the next day.

"Now what? I'm afraid that if I close my eyes that it will all reset and Hinata won't be like she is…"

"The day will reset tomorrow anyways Naruto." The blonde quickly turned and saw Fukasaku standing on Hinata's shoulder.

"Fuka? Why are you here?"

"To end this part of your training."

"Training? What training?"

"This." He pointed to the girl under him. "To properly control nature chakra you needed to understand this part of nature… to know these feelings… now release yourself so the real you can experience what you have."

"The real me?"

"You didn't know? Well that genjutsu worked better than I thought… You are a clone… and if I remember correctly… you are number 33."

"What?"

"You didn't notice when you would get hit hard that you'd disappear?"

"Eh… so that is why… I just figured Sakura killed me."

"Now that you know, release the jutsu."

"But Hinata?"

"She won't know anything, but I will do you a favor… today she will remember only as a dream…"

* * *

Naruto disappeared in a plume of smoke, leaving Hinata alone, destined to forget all that happened. Elsewhere, orange lidded eyes opened after receiving the memories of his clone.

"Interesting…" He commented

* * *

(few weeks later)

"Hinata! Go away! You can't handle him!" Naruto shouted out while he was pinned to the ground with dark rod jutting out from .

"I know… I'm just being selfish." The fierce Hyuuga continued striking the dark rods holding him to the ground.

"Why, why would you?"

"Because… because I Love you." Naruto saw the surprised, and pained look on her face when her body was hurtled through the air by Pain's jutsu.

"Hinata!?"

'_Why now… why did she have to say it now!?"_

"HINATA!"

* * *

Well that was it... Kind of a fun little thing. I've always wanted to do a 'groundhog day' style story.

...Later


End file.
